The Snake and the Dragon: My life and Hogwarts
by HesterAntoniaDracolas
Summary: Hester grew up isolated trusting her father, Lord Voldermort, til the day he curses her, awakening her hidden powers and enabling her escape but halting her growth. facing being thirteen forever she seeks help despite persecution til she realises her dream of going to hogwarts. whilst there she has to keep her secret hidden and stop the darkness taking over before the final battle.
1. Prologue

When the girl woke up the world seemed to hang in orbit below her instead of her floating above it. She twitched her fingers and felt air rushing between them and she heard the whistling in her ears. Not floating, she was falling, plucked from one faulted world and dropped into another to dance in the sky til the ground ran up to meet her, give her one final embrace. But that could not be right, why was she falling?

And why did something inside her long to reach for the ground?

_You are an angel and you were born to fly_

* * *

Her feet caressed the ground and she landed, it would not be their last meeting.

The girl surveyed her new world and found that she recognised it. It was good to return to somewhere she felt safe. The roar behind her was water screaming as it split the air and met its brethren in the lake, the solemn trees on the lakeshore stood proudly and swayed, reaching out cautious tendrils to greet their friend, the weathered cliff face rose towards the sky weighted by the waterfall, encircling her in her safe haven and then there was the house.

She was a little afraid of the house, it did not hold as many escape options. But then why should she worry about escape when she knew she was here to stay.

_How do you know when the end has not yet come? Death has not yet stilled your heart, stayed the blood in your veins, stripped you of your identity, stolen your memories and silenced your soul. Stay strong my sister for your life has not yet ended._

The voice had always been there to guide her through when her mortal eyes could not see the way, most would know it as a conscious but it had more to its gentle tones than mere imagination. So she listened and heeded its advice.

_Come to the house and remember why you are here, not to die, but to survive._

* * *

"do you remember?"

"I was falling"

"and before the fall?"

"that I do not remember"

"then come and see what remains of the past"

"there are only shards left"

"then put it back together, tell me everything"

"my story?"

"our story"

"our story has two beginnings and one end. Mine starts before yours"

"I was always there, you just couldn't hear me"

"then I'll start there"

"that would be the wisest choice"

"but would it be the best"

"I am not your conscious, I am only here to listen"

And so the girl picked up the first shard and began.

* * *

Prologue

There is a house in a secret clearing of an ancient forest. The ravens circle this house, the souls had gone from their eyes and magic had claimed their bodies, they were look outs for the shadow. The rest of the forest avoided this house, it reeked of death and fear. Even the trees lent away from its boundaries, those closest twisted and blackened by the evil that resided there.

The only one who ever ventured there was the mightiest of all, a queen of the beasts. She sat on a tree and watched the house, watched his followers come and go. Sometimes she was a raven and flew with the rest high above the shimmering miasmic boundaries. Or she was a nervous deer shielded by low branches peering at a possible threat. As time went by she became less wary of being seen and her form became bigger and more noticeable. She even came as a humanoid once, in browns and greens, she was confident the unintelligent humans were intent enough on his orders not to look for her. They probably weren't even aware of her existence.

What she really wanted was to see him. Sometimes he would appear in the entrance to the house to survey his followers in their work. She could see his half smile and almost hear his laugh. She shared in his irritation, they were clumsy and useless. They failed at his tasks and returned to grovel at his feet while he watched emotionless and if they did succeed their celebrations seemed never ending, they began to demand things they were not entitled to and soon enough they disappeared. But he was always surrounded by him like flies buzzing around a spider, how he hated them. How she longed for him to be alone.

One day she came as herself and stood right before the wall. She could not see it, but a charred line of grass and a slight distortion of all on the other side told her it was there. It was still early and she could hear the dawn bird song behind her, dew adorned every surface like fallen starlight. She called the birds to her and they rested on her fingers and in her hair, so black it seemed to swallow the light that met it. The grounds of the house were deserted, no incompetent followers, no spells being cast, no bangs as they appear and none of those infernal broomsticks. But no him.

She sighed and turned, ready to melt away into the forest. Her sensitive ears caught something, a door opening. Hidden in the shadows she stole a glance at the house, her heart fluttering like a leaf caught in the wind. There he was, standing in the doorway, face tilted towards the sky basking in the morning sun. How beautiful he was, immaculately arranged hair, a rich chestnut, dark eyes set into a solemn face, slender frame. She was enraptured by him, fascinated. She moved a little closer, still hidden by the shadows. He turned his head towards her and extended a hand gracefully inviting her in. He had seen her, he had always seen her every time she came to observe him.

The Queen stepped out of the shadows and stood just before the forcefeild. He smiled his half smile, his eyes making up the rest.

"Come in" he said, his voice was amused. The Queen didn't reply. "You can't come in?" She shook her head. He flicked his wrist and a crack shone in the wall and widened, creating a doorway. Warily she reached out a hand to test that it was safe. Her feet remained planted as before, if the gateway closed behind her she would be trapped. Yet she trusted this strange human, evil though the house was, he exuded no malevolent emotions and she could not help but trust him. A mysterious thing for one of her race, who never trusted strangers, especially humans. She glided through the porthole and emerged into his dwelling.

"Welcome" he smiled victoriously. "It is an honour to finally meet you"

She folded her left arm across her chest, hand on her heart and bowed. It was the ritual greeting of her race, she did not expect him to reply correctly but again he surprised her, repeating her action, except with his right arm for a human heart was to be found on the left.

He hesitated a second considering telling her something "Tom Marvolo Riddle". At first she was honoured that he had told her his full name, but then she remembered how humans loved to bandy about their names, not so highly valued as those of her race.

"That's not what they call you"

"Ahh, she speaks!" he cried triumphantly, laughter was never far behind his words. "you are correct, my followers do not call me by my true name, most of them don't even know it". So he was honouring her.

"Anaya" she said softly.

"what an intriguing name" Tom murmured. "may I ask you what you are?"

She looked up at him, his face lit up with curiosity "you wouldn't know what it was if I told you"

"try me" she didn't understand this remark but she presumed it was some sort of human idiom.

"I'm a shape shifter" she began "a queen of the beasts"

"is that your true form?" he asked her

"I have two true forms, this is not one of them" she replied.

"will you show me?"

She smiled and her outline distorted. He watched in wondrous amazement as her hair lightened and became a brilliant inky dark green, like velvet. Otherwise she was as before, eyes like emeralds, a flowing dress of green silk and sharp green talons as nails.

"and the other?"

"perhaps another day" she replied vaguely

"will you come back tomorrow?"

"Perhaps" he smiled and her heart fluttered. Only when she had returned to the safety of the forest did she note the perceptible difference in atmosphere, within his spherical world it was silent.

She returned every day and after a while the doorway became permanent so she could go as she pleased. Slowly he won her complete trust, teasing facts out of her and in return feeding her snippets of his own life. At the end of every day he would ask her to show him her true form and each time she would reply "perhaps tomorrow".

It was one of these days just as she had returned to the forest and the doorway had vanished that she saw another of her kind. He was waiting for her return a ghost smile on his lips. At first she was afraid she would be banned from visiting her human but then she realised who it was.

"Da'sun" she sighed relieved, bowing to him.

He returned the greeting "Aunt Anaya, greetings"

"you were waiting for me" she already knew the answer.

"I shall admit to doing so, I require your advice"

"oh?"

"I'm leaving" The shock was partly expected.

"I thought you would"

"I'll go with the next storm, I was thinking I'd stay for some time in the mountains to the north…."

"what about Crystal?"

"I cannot stay"

"is it truly that bad?" she could see the tension in his eyes.

"it's why I'm talking to you. I don't want to lose any of you. I just need some air

"we're surrounded by air, you have as much as you want"

Da'sun looked alarmed, he had let something loose that he had not meant to.

"that's a human saying, isn't it! You want to be with humans?"

"no" he said shiftily attempting to avoid looking at her. it was of no use, when their race lied, their eyes told the tale.

"oh Da'sun" it was a breaking their rules to live as a human, many thought it was a sin to even interact with them, to be seen by them. It was why she was scared to find someone waiting for her by the doorway.

"you are the same" he muttered

"I do not wish to live with them!" she exclaimed outraged at the suggestion. Or did she?

He sighed and hung his head "it's too late now"

"what have you done?" he was silent, shaking his head. "tell me, please"

"I killed one" his whisper was barely audible even to her powerful ears. But how she wished she hadn't heard and that he hadn't said it. The silence lay between them like a thick blanket of snow, suffocating and chilling.

"why?" she asked, but she already knew the answer.

"I lost my temper"

"again?"

"I can't control it"

"what did they do?"

"they're monsters, killing everything in sight, it was a game, sport! To think I wanted to be like them."

She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He would have cried if he could, instead it started to rain. She looked up as the first splash hit his check. The grey clouds swirled violently, lit up by flashes of lightening, pouring rain down on the forest below. A howling wind started up tearing the leaves from the trees and shrubs from their roots, it sounded like a thousand voices screaming in unison. There was a loud boom as thunder began. Her bereft nephew lent his own voice to the storm roaring and screaming his fury and grief into the wind. She tried to speak but the words were whipped from her mouth before he could hear them. She tried to move towards him but it was all she could do to remain with both feet on the ground, the trees were bent in half kissing the earth with their branches, groaning at the indignity of their position.

As quickly as it had started it stopped. She felt the sun's warmth on her back and heard the bird song again. It was as if it had never happened. The only sign of unrest was Da'sun he lay curled up at the base of a tree, rocking back and forth, his arms wrapped tightly around his head.

She crouched beside him and stroked his hair "let's get you home"

"don't tell them" he pleaded.

"I won't, I promise" he checked her eyes to see that she was telling the truth, satisfied he dropped his head back onto the ground and fell asleep exhausted from his sudden burst of magic.

Anaya sighed, how was she going to deal with this? She morphed into a large wolf and dragged him with her teeth onto her back, one arm trailing almost to the ground. She set off as fast as she dared without running the risk that he would fall off. When she arrived back at the clearing which her brother and his family had as a base she left him there without a word. She would not tell them, he would have to do it himself.

The news came to her the next day; Da'sun was Banished and was to lose his name. She wrote his name on paper so that she would not forget it despite the magic of a Banishment, as an afterthought she added the others names. She folded the paper up and put it in her locket for safe-keeping. She did not go to see Tom that day.

When she finally went to see him she refused to answer his questions on why she hadn't come and he wisely stopped asking.

"Life is short" she told him and when he asked her to show him her true form she obliged.

"My full name is Anaya Kame Dracolas." It was all she had to tell him.

* * *

This was how my mother fell in love Lord Voldermort, it was the reason she abandoned her family and married a tyrant. They never saw her again, despite living within a mile of her for the rest of her life.


	2. Chapter 1

"Is that where it begins?"

"No, this is still the prologue"

"Continue"

* * *

She was born on the 15th December 1967. Her name was Hester Antonia Dracolas.

She rarely saw her father, he was always away on business and when he was at the house he did not have the time to see her, nor was he particularly interested. The house was always filled with death eaters though, coming with him, waiting for him, visiting him, bringing messages, news of missions and way too often prisoners. She would hear their screams at night. Her mother did her best to shield her from her father's true nature and from the horror of his activities, but nothing could stop her hearing the screams at night.

Despite this, she was happy. The house was big and full of exciting things she would explore it every day and found new things all the time. The garden was full of trees and she learnt to climb them at an early age, she would stare out past the boundaries into the forest and took delight at the animals that came brazenly close to the house. Even the Death Eaters could be kind to her, ever desperate to curry favour with the Dark Lord, they would bring her presents, flowers, charms, jewellery, her favourite was a raven "better than an owl" he had told her mysteriously. She had smiled and thanked him, although she was not sure what she would have used an owl for, being unfamiliar with sending letters.

Anaya, however, was very unhappy. It had not taken long for the illusions surrounding him to fall away and she realised all too late that she was trapped. She could not return to her beloved forest, she could not even visit. She couldn't transform she began to forget how. He had complete power over her all because she had given him her name and showed him her true form.

So when Hester was eight she acted on her long planned escape. In the middle of the night, when she was certain that voldermort was not there and would not be arriving and that there were no death eaters in the house, she woke up her daughter and rushed her out of the house. Hester's bare feet were cold on the damp grass and she was terrified, what was happening? Where were they going?

They stopped just before the boundaries. Hester looked questioningly at her mother but she was concentrating and gave no explanation as to what was happening. After a few moments a crack appeared in the boundary and started to force itself open. Invisible forces pushed back at Anaya's magic and she realised just how depleted her abilities were after ten years of solitude and imprisonment. Finally it became big enough for Hester to squeeze through after some prompting from Anaya. She waited on the other side nervously as the tear in the forcefeild grew slowly wider.

There was a triumphant look in her mother's eyes, she was certain of her freedom. There was a flash and everything lit up green, it filled her vision entirely, all she could see was her mother lit up from behind eyes wide with shock, a single tear rolled down her cheek. The moment seemed to last forever.

Then it was so dark, she couldn't see blinded from the light. She screamed and rough hands grabbed her, pulled her back into the garden. She called Anaya's name over and over but the calming voice never reassured her, the warm arms did not encircle her. Dark shapes swirled at the edges of her vision, disjointed voices shouting commands, confusion and fear filled her and she struggled violently, kicking at the death eaters who held her.

"LET….ME…..GO!" she screamed and they were blasted away from her, she sank to her knees and all fell silent. A cold hand pressed into her forehead, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She looked up. He lent over her, looming tall and sinister. There was an amused smile on his face, but it was cold and his eyes were lifeless, tinged with red. Hester stared into them boldly.

"Why?" she whispered. She wanted to ask so much, she wanted to leap up and run to the motionless form of her mother, she wanted to scream and cry. But she could not move, held in place by his icy gaze.

"She tried to leave," he spoke calmly, as if the death of her mother was not his own doing, as if he had never even known her and was unaffected by her death. "I could not let her do so. Get up child, and go inside. I will talk to you in the morning." But she still couldn't move, her fingers clenched around tufts of grass.

"Get up!" his anger became noticeable. But she just could not move, she wanted to tell him, to explain how she was barely attached to her body, but she couldn't think of a way she could put down in words the enormity of what she was feeling. His too cold hands fastened around her neck and heaved her up onto her limp feet. He let go and she released a painful breath. She swayed but she was steady. The sharp sting on her face from the slap was unexpected, her head snapped sideways and the air was forced from her mouth.

"Never disobey me again" he said quietly. "You belong to me, don't forget."

She was silent, gazing intently at her bare feet, green from grass stains.

"Answer me"

"Yes"

"Yes, my Lord" he corrected her

"Yes, my lord"

He placed a hand on her head, at first she thought he would punish her again, but he removed the hand and pushed her gently towards the house. "go and sleep"

"Yes, my lord"

A hint of a smile showed on his statue like face.

She stumbled inside and lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling trying to believe what had happened. She drifted in and out of sleep, her dreams were fraught with flashing lights, screams, indistinct memories and the last image she would ever have of her mother. Several times she woke thinking Anaya was still alive and then the truth would hit her like the weight of the ocean and she struggled to breath. Memories she did not want to think about crept into her head, her mother singing as she brushed Hester's hair, laughing as she played with her, the warmth of her hugs, when she would press her forehead against hers so that their long hair would mingle, golden and soft brown, or midnight black. They way she smiled with her eyes, her graceful movements as she wrote, her love of animals and the gently way she could coax butterflies to land on her fingers. All of that was gone. Hester felt truly alone for the first time.

* * *

She woke again at dawn when light began to creep into her room, sliding over her bed and catching in the motes of dust that floated lazily about. She stared at the strange patterns on the ceiling made by the cracks in the curtains. She lurched up and onto her feet quickly before her grief weighted her in place on her bed. She took a deep breath and hurriedly changed from her crumpled robes into fresh ones, only releasing the breath once she had propelled herself from the room. She looked up and down the corridor, listening carefully. Once she was sure the coast was clear she started to walk swiftly and with purpose towards the kitchen. That was what she had to do to carry on, fill her days with purpose so that she would always be thinking about something less painful.

She had never been to the kitchen before, food had always just appeared on the table in the dining room. She wasn't even very sure if she knew where it was, having never found it in one of her many explorations, but she knew she would not see her father in there and that was what she wanted to achieve.

Finally she came upon a little door set into a dingy wall in a well hidden corner of the house. The door came up to just below her hips. Curiosity led her to crawling through and she emerged into an airy room packed to the brim with short green creatures with long ears dressed in mismatched, dirty, baggy clothes. They were in a frenzy of cooking and ferrying back and forth of platters of food, communicating in an excited chatter of high-pitched voices.

"umm, excuse me?" she said quietly, not really expecting a reaction. Immediately four of the creatures rushed forward and bowed.

"What does miss require?" they asked.

Thrown by this response, she could do little more than mumble about breakfast. She found herself seated at a table with everything from pastries and pancakes to bacon and sausages piled in front of her. It was a bit of a struggle to find her appetite but after the first few bites her stomach took over and she wolfed down all she could stuff into her mouth, such was her hunger.

"water, please" she choked. A cup of water was pressed into her hand and she drunk it in a couple of gulps. She wiped her mouth and sat watching the organised chaos around her. She was amazed that the funny little creatures never crashed into each other, no matter how many dishes they were carrying. She also wondered how she had never seen them before or known they were there. There was so much she hadn't realised was going on, oblivious to her mother's unhappiness. She slammed her hand into the table, making the creatures jump and scurry away from her. Anger coursed through her, anger at her mother for not telling her, anger at the house which was now a prison to her, anger at her father for his heartlessness. But most of all anger at herself for failing her mother, for her reluctance to leave, for her ignorance, for not running when she got to the other side, for following orders and not trying to help her mother even if it was hopeless.

She wrapped her head in her arms and howled. It left her feeling empty, as if she hadn't just eaten her weight in food, but the weight that was on her chest was starting to lift. A worried creature stood by her.

"Is there anything I can get miss?" he asked.

"No, thank you... I'm fine" she replied. "This is a slightly impertinant question… but..what are you?"

He looked confused for a moment and then answered "A house elf, miss"

She nodded and thanked him making a mental note to look up house elves in the library, there was so much she didn't know, but she was sure she could fill the vacuum even a little if she started to read. So she heaved herself up and squeezed through the little door again. She at least knew where the library was, but she was more likely to encounter her father.

The library took up almost an entire floor and had always seemed to be older than the house itself, floor to ceiling shelves full of dusty, ancient books with faded titles. The corridors in between were narrow and it seemed as if the shelves were looming over her. Before she would have hated it, she was always happier outside, but now she felt vulnerable without her mother's protection and the books seemed to be watching over her.

She picked out a volume at random and found a corner where a row of shelves didn't quite fit reach the wall, it was a tight fit but she was hidden, she pulled her knees up against her chest and began to read. She came to read in the library every day, from dawn til midnight. She would only return to her room when she was sure she would not be caught.

She devoured the books, row after row, and block of shelves after block of shelves. She could lose herself in them. She read everything potion books, spell books, fiction, history books, books on animals, countries, dark wizards, good wizards. She didn't always understand it all, but the more she read the more she wanted to. She would read up to five books a day depending on the size, and in a week she had managed forty.

She was too scared to the take the books out of the library in case someone noticed they were missing, so she spent as much time as possible in there. She saw no one but the house elves and she felt a numb serenity that stopped her thinking. It was a perfect situation, or as perfect as it could be. Until she fell asleep.

* * *

Tom Riddle was returning from England, flanked by Death Eaters. He was in a particularly good mood as he had just succeeded in obtaining a very important artefact. His followers were not aware of this particular success and, as the other mission had not gone entirely as planned, were wary of him. Like startled rabbits they jumped at his every move and it annoyed him, not enough however to dampen his good mood. It was for this reason that he decided not to immediately punish Lucius, whose fault it had been for the failure.

He arrived at the house and dismissed them, except for Lucius, he would terrorise him a little, just for fun. He ordered him to remain in the hall while he visited the library in order to hide the artefact. He was expecting to find it dark and musty as it was, he wasn't expecting to find it occupied.

He placed the artefact, which was an exceedingly rare book, into the shelves and cast several spells to hide and protect it. Satisfied he turned to leave when he saw something out of the corner of his eyes. A pair of feet poked out from the end of the row of shelves. He glided over and surveyed the sleeping form of his daughter; her head was slumped over a book which was balancing on her knees. He removed the book and frowned at its title. It was a spell book, the same one he'd had at hogwarts. He smiled to himself. So, she wanted to learn.


	3. Chapter 2

Hester woke with a start and was momentarily unaware of her surroundings. She was stiff and felt claustrophobic. The library! She was in the library, she must have fallen asleep. She pulled a pocket watch from her robes and checked the time. It was half past eleven; she had been asleep for a long time.

She levered herself up and stretched before returning her book to its place on the shelf. She hurried along the corridors, wary of potential discovery. She hoped that no one had found her asleep, but she presumed that they would have woken her up. She reached her bedroom and changed her robes, attempting to tug a brush through her reluctant hair.

When she arrived at the kitchens a house elf was, as usual, waiting for her but instead of immediately burying her with food he nervously informed her that she was wanted in the dining room. Her heart sank, she had been discovered. She thanked the house elf and resigned herself to the endurance that was human company.

The dining room was on the first floor and was empty except for an impressive wooden table that took of most of the space, it was dark and gloomy despite the large windows. She had always disliked it, even more so now. She pushed the heavy door open and entered. Her father was sat at one end of the table reading a letter, a large owl was perched on the back of the chair next to him, his breakfast lay untouched in front of him. She waited nervously and a little impatiently, desperate to get it over with and return to her books. Staring at the food on the table she realised how hungry she was and wondered whether she could risk announcing herself.

Eventually he looked up from the letter and surveyed her in her discomfort, a half smile on his stony features. He gestured to the chair beside him and she hurriedly sat down. Her place was already laid and food began to appear on her plate. She glanced up at him, but he had returned to his letter. So she threw caution to the wind and hungrily devoured her breakfast.

"Finished?" He queried.

"Yes, thank you" she lied, still hungry. "My lord" she hurriedly added.

"Good." He replied vaguely and silence fell again. She stared morosely at her plate wishing it would be full again.

He put down the letter with a sigh and shooed the owl from its perch. It hooted tersely and flew off. Hester waited.

"You like to read?"

"Yes my lord"

"Would you like to learn about the things you read?"

This threw her slightly, she thought for a moment and then replied "I suppose so"

"Good"

She paused waiting for more "My lord?"

"Yes?" he said somewhat surprised she had spoken.

"I'd need a wand for most of it though, wouldn't I?"

"Yes" he mused "you can have your mother's" he added decisively and clicked his fingers. A house elf appeared "Master?".

"Fetch me the box" he ordered. The house elf bowed and departed not asking for further clarification as to which box. Moments later he returned carrying an inlaid wooden box which he placed on the table with some difficulty, due difference in height between him and it.

"Here" Voldermort said, pushing the box towards her. Hester took it and hesitantly opened the lid. It contained three objects, her mother's ring and locket, which she had worn every day and her wand. It was made of a dark wood, smooth and cool to the touch. Hester slid the ring on to her finger and put the locket round her neck. She was about to wave the wand when his cold hands closed around hers.

"Perhaps not yet" he smiled, almost menacingly. He released her hands and she put the wand away.

"You may go now" he dismissed and she gladly hurried from the room.

She ran down the corridors suppressing her urge to scream, when she reached her room she threw herself on the bed and buried her face in her pillow. He had disturbed her routine and her grief was returning tenfold. She cradled her mother's possessions, all she had left of her, she examined them pouring over every facet for the memories she craved. The ring had a delicate circle of gold with thirteen different coloured jewels set round the rim, in the centre was a serpentine dragon curled round an emerald. The inside of the ring had an inscription in strange hieroglyphics which she did not understand. The locket also had the dragon motif, surrounding by curling tendrils of vines and flowers like those on her pocket watch. The wand was plain but still beautiful.

She was suddenly filled with an urge to cast a spell. She thought of the spell book she had been reading and recalled an easy not too harmful one, a hovering charm. She closed the door and placed a slipper on the bed. Preparing herself she took a deep breath and recited the spell in her head.

"Wingardium Leviosa" she said with a swish and a flick of her wand. The slipper jolted upwards and smashed into the ceiling before crashing back down onto the bed. She breathed out and tried again.

* * *

The chest of drawers hovered a metre from the floor, it wobbled slightly but maintained its height. Then it sunk slowly down and noiselessly made contact with the floor. Hester wondered if she should move onto another spell, having mastered this one. She wondered whether her father expected her to teach herself magic, which was fine by her, or if he himself would do so.

She wondered why he had given her the wand, it seemed random and he hadn't explained his motives, not that she expected him to. She decided to fetch a spell book from the library and, on her way there, to get some more food. But when she reached the kitchen the house elves were waiting for her.

"Master says you are not to come here anymore" they squeaked pushing her back with their surprisingly strong hands.

"But I'm hungry" she protested. They ignored her and repeated their orders. She reluctantly relented and headed for the grounds.

As she stepped outside she noticed how still the air was and wondered if it had been like that before, oppressive and stuffy. For that brief moment when she had been outside the boundaries she had felt the wind caress her face and tug at her hair. A taste of freedom. She considered climbing her favourite tree, but when she looked at it, it didn't seem alive as those past the boundaries did. She was trapped in a circle of death.

For lack of anything else to do she began to walk round the house counting the number of times she passed the front door. She was just about to complete the nineteenth when the door flew open and she jumped back to avoid being hit by it. Her father glided out and catching sight of her took hold of her wrist and pulled her along after him. Behind them followed a death eater with blonde hair and a haughty expression. He seemed most displeased and was regarding her with some level of disgust, but there was a hint of relief in his eyes.

They strided in silence across the lawn towards an old tree that grew at a wonky angle leaning away from the boundary, its bark was blackened and puckered. She didn't like it, it was no good to climb as the bark crumbled to the touch. They came to a halt and Hester twisted her hand to wriggle out of his grip. He glanced questioningly at her but let it go.

She looked up at him and then at the death eater, who was still staring at her, his lip curled in annoyance when he saw her looking at him. She hastily returned her gaze downwards as the death eater and her father began to have a whispered conversation. She didn't listen preferring to stare at her feet. She found to her surprise that they were bare. They were not cold despite the chill in the air, although they were distinctly grubby and green with grass stains. Her robes were also quite grubby and crumpled, for whilst she had been changing them, they hadn't been cleaned and she had been squeezing in and out of a tight corner for days. They were slightly too long for her and the ends trailed in the ground.

An image of a spell book popped into her head and with a spurt of inspiration she muttered a spell under her breath and smiled with satisfaction as her robes brightened. She noted mentally to remember scourgify.

Her father looked down at her sharply "What was that?"

"A spell" she said nervously remembering his earlier order not to do any magic. He frowned.

"What spell?"

"Scourgify" she shuffled awkwardly.

Surprisingly he smiled at her triumphantly and then placed a hand on the death eater's shoulder pushing him forward.

"This is Lucius Malfoy" He said gesturing vaguely in the direction of the aforementioned man. "He is to be your teacher."

So this was what he had arranged, no wonder the death eater had seemed so annoyed, he had been lumbered with the demeaning task of teaching her.

She nodded in his direction "Sir"

"Miss Dracolas" he replied unimpressed.

Her father smiled "I'll leave you then, Lucius I expect you to report to me this evening"

"My lord" he bowed. Hester followed suit hastily.

As soon as her father had disapparated the death eater snapped his fingers in her face. "Well," he asked, one eyebrow raised imperiously. "your talents must be numerous if the dark lord so wishes for you to be taught, I'm surprised he's kept you at all."

She already disliked this man intensely he had an air of superiority and she could tell he hated her just as much. She remained silent.

"Are you deaf?" he asked. "I asked you a question, I suppose you are as useless as your mother, I didn't understand why he kept her either"

Kept. Kept? Her powerful, wild mother kept? She was not kept she was encaged. Hester did not care about keeping her magic to a minimum, hiding stuff, she would show this man never to talk of her mother in such a language. She made to raise her wand but before she even had time to recall any spell, the tree exploded. It turned to dust fragments flying in all directions, seemingly hit by a bolt of lightning. She stood still against the force of the wind blowing at her but Malfoy was thrown off his feet.

Calm descended and she surveyed the smoking ruins of the tree stump. It must have been accidental magic. Lucius hauled himself to his feet and snatched her wand.

"I asked you to tell me not show me you imbecile" he snapped cuffing her on the back of her head with a book.

And so began a long and torturous relationship.


	4. Chapter 3

"I will skip these next few years, as they were unimportant and exceedingly monotonous"

"But things happened during that time, many things"

"As always you speak the truth, I will recount those important things and then we will go to the real beginning. For that is where you began."

"Good, we still have time"

* * *

A few months later

It was a bright spring morning and the land around the house had an unusual air of freshness, flowers had forced their way up through the hard ground and spread their petals like halos around their smiling faces. Hester knew they would wither away soon, droop and drivel up, their colours would fade. But for now she enjoyed the peacefulness.

She stood waiting outside the front door for Lucius's arrival Maccaraius the raven was perched on her shoulder shifting from one foot to the other and squawking. She had a large, dusty book tucked under one arm and her wand was clenched tightly in her hand. She was ready for any surprises Lucius might try to spring on her as he was want to do. He loved to see her fail so that he could report to her father and see him frown at her. He would try anything to wriggle out of teaching her, so if she hurt herself during one of their lessons it was jubilation that spread across his face rather than concern.

He was also a pretty terrible teacher; he taught her the minimum and demanded the most difficult magic out of her in order to find something she couldn't do. Her father sometimes observed these lessons, but this harsh testing of her abilities seemed to please him more than anything. As soon as the lessons finished and sometimes before they started she would be in the library reading up on the magic she was supposed to do and other spells she thought he may make her do so that she could gain the satisfaction of his annoyance when she succeeded in his tasks.

Most spells came easily to her, especially when she was angry and she was always angry around Lucius. But whenever they attempted potions she was liable to explode the cauldrons and cover anything in the surroundings with thick layers of glue. However much lucius loved to see her fail, getting covered in gelatinous green substances was not worth it, and he had abandoned teaching her anything to do with potions.

She was unusually excited that morning however because she knew that she would be going past the boundaries into the forest, and there was nothing she desired more than that. To feel the wind again, she hoped it would rain, the weather inside the boundary never changed it was always grey, slightly cold and exceedingly stuffy.

"Hurry up, as always you are late" Lucius ordered as he marched across the lawn towards her. She was late? That was a bit rich seeing as she had been there half an hour before he had. However she said nothing, not wishing to jeopardize her visit to the outside.

When they reached the boundary Lucius ordered her to stand back and then began a series of complicated wand movements that Hester tried and failed to remember. Finally he waved his hand in front of the miasmic reflection and a doorway appeared. He hurried through pulling her with him.

She could hear birdsong and the rustling as small creatures bustled through the undergrowth. She could feel the wind tugging gently at her hair. Her nostrils were filled with the sharp scent of greenery and the sweet notes that wafted from the blossom. It was beautiful.

She was jolted back to earth by Lucius rapping her sharply on the back of her head, which he was want to do. They trekked through the forest for some minutes before they came to a clearing, Hester had a vague sense that they were being watched but she dismissed it.

"Today I will teach you the three most important spells you will ever learn." He paused for effect. "The Ministry of Magic has proclaimed these spells unforgivable, but they are weak, the ability to use these spells is to know true power. Are you listening?"She nodded. He frequently asked that.

"Anyway, as I was saying, these are extremely important. They are the imperious curse, the cruciatus curse and the killing curse. I will attempt to teach you these spells, but I highly doubt they are within your limited abilities." He smiled vindictively.

"Imperious curse. The incantation is Imperio. When used correctly it places the recipient under the control of the caster, it can be overthrown by those with exceptional will power. Cruciatus curse. The incantation is crucio. When used correctly it inflicts excruciating pain on the recipient, but does not inflict any actual damage, no known resistance. Killing curse. The incantation is Avada Kedavra. It kills." She released her breath, she knew all about the killing curse, Lucius did not have to explain that one to her.

He whacked the back of her head again "don't interrupt me! If you know so much about them then I'm sure you'll have no trouble casting them."

"On what?" she asked stalling. She did not under any circumstances wish to use such curses.

"Your cluelessness astounds me." He sighed. "Why do you think we're out here, there aren't any animals inside the boundaries"

"We're going to kill animals?" she asked

"Yes! You imbecile! Unless of course you'd rather cast them on humans, well I'm afraid I don't have any muggles with me at the current moment. So get on with it, you'll need to know these."

Hester thought desperately of a way she could wriggle out of it. She supposed she could always pretend to not be able to do it but that would be a victory to Lucius, when it came to spells she had not lost yet and she did not intend to start now. She looked around her. A shape darted across the edge of her vision. She swirled round and stared into the bushes. Something returned her gaze. A pair of dark eyes peering out from between the leaves, blinking at her. It knew her, she was sure of it.

"Are you going to stand there all day or shall I show you?" Lucius snapped, wrenching her head round and away from the creature in the bushes. He grabbed Maccaraius from her shoulder and held him tightly pinning his wings down. The startled bird reacted angrily squawking and pecking at his hands.

"Imperio!" Lucius pronounced carefully and the bird stilled. He released his grasp and Hester dived to catch the poor bird. Lucius laughed and flicked his wand skywards. The raven followed his wand movements doing his bidding.

"No! Stop it!" Hester cried in vain.

"Which one should we try next?" Lucius asked her, smirking. "Shall we put him out of his misery?"

"Please don't!" Hester thought quickly. Ha this would show him. Raising her wand steadily she pointed it at the odious man in front of her.

The smirk was wiped from his face "What are you doing?"

She breathed in "Imperio!" the command in her voice surprised her. Lucius stiffened and dropped his wand. Maccaraius flapped down and returned to her shoulder, he preened his feather's smugly. She breathed out.

"I have not done this" she muttered to herself.

"You did not do this" Lucius repeatedly dumbly. She almost dropped her wand in surprise. How stupid of her, she should make proper use of what she had done.

"The imperious curse was never cast on you" she tried. He repeated it. She smiled to herself "I cast all three unforgivables effortlessly and perfectly." He repeated. She decided she had probably covered all that needed to be covered "Finite Incatatum."

Lucius shuddered and returned to his senses "Where was i?"

"You were about to…umm – "

"Imbecile, were you even listening? It seems it's not even beyond you to cast the unforgivables. I suppose we must return."

"Yes"

He strided off back towards the house, Hester glanced behind her into the bushes. The eyes were gone. She sighed and began to walk off "Good bye" she said to the birds in the trees. The branches seemed to wave at her and she had a sudden sense of nostalgia. How she used to love to climb trees.

It was then that she realised that Lucius was gone and she was lost. In his befuddled state he had not noticed her absence, he was probably walking along yelling "imbecile" into the distance. She contemplated running away but she knew she would not get far, where would she go anyway?

She ran off in what she thought was the right direction but soon found herself even more lost. She stopped and sat down on a tree stump to catch her breath. There was a splash as a droplet of water collided with her face. She looked up, the sky was full of majestic dark clouds. More droplets followed the first and soon it was pouring down. So this was rain. She had never felt it before. At first it was refreshing but then she started to feel quite cold and miserable. She would be in a lot of trouble when she got back. She hurried into the shelter of a tree and wrapped her arms around herself.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment of sadness. She would store it up from hour to hour, day to day, waiting for a moment of solitude where she could let it out. She screamed into the forest. The sudden noise caused panic for the birds in the surrounding trees and they took off in a great wave of noise and flapping wings. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't, she never could. Instead she watched the water rolling of the leaves and flying towards the ground. It was beautiful, she had to admit, no matter how sad it made her feel. She tried to cast a warming spell, but her heart was not in it the feeble sparks flickered out.

Hester was suddenly aware of something invading her privacy. Maccaraius was perched above her preening his feathers happily, it was not him. She stood up and stared around her. There peering out from behind a tree trunk were the dark eyes that had watched her earlier. White spiky fur surrounded the eyes and ears perched on the top of its morose face. Black spots were placed randomly across its face. Its whiskers drooped with rain and its nose twitched at her. One paw was hesitantly placed in her direction, another followed and the rest of its body was pulled into her view. It was long and lithe, powerful limbs tensed in preparation for a quick getaway, tail swishing back and forth.

It was leopard, or at least similar to one, for she had read a book on the subject of big cats and she was sure that it differed considerably to the description. It was some sort of big cat anyway drenched from the rain and shivering. It was young but it was at least a metre tall and a metre long not including its graceful tail which it held proudly above it. Its feet were slightly too big for the rest of it which was what gave her the impression that it was young.

"Hello?" she said hesitantly, it jumped backwards slightly and its ears flattened against its head. "My name is Hester" she introduced herself. "Hester Antonia Dracolas". This had a dramatic effect, the leopard bounded forward and in a few steps had covered the distance between them. It stood right in front of her and looked up at her happily. She slipped her wand away into her pocket and sat back down at the base of the tree, she patted the ground beside her and the leopard curled up beside her resting his heavy head on her lap.

She had no idea why a leopard was in the forest but she couldn't bring herself to care, or even feel scared. She felt that he, for she was sure it was a he, knew her. She'd a friend and that was all that really mattered to her. She closed her eyes and it was not long before she slept.

The snow leopard watched over her and Maccaraius perched on his back, an agreement was reached between the two of them to look after their liege.

* * *

When she was eventually found and brought back to the house by Lucius there was no argument as to whether she could keep the snow leopard, he simply refused to leave. Voldermort was secretly pleased with the way his daughter had managed to hoodwink Lucius, although he did not show it, so he allowed her that one thing.

Sleeping in the rain had landed her with a nasty cold and she spent several days in bed, the snow leopard curled up at one end and Maccaraius perched on the bedstead. Lucius was more than happy to not have to teach her and she was elated to be able to spend all day reading in bed. Try as she might, she could find no reference as to what exactly the leopard was, only her own observations gave her insights. He was certainly magical as he could shrink to the size of a normal house cat and grow again and he seemed to understand what she said as Maccaraius.

She named him Taradan.


	5. Chapter 4

One year and a few months later

It was summer and Hester was nine and a half. The weather inside the boundaries was as usual cold and grey, but she knew it would be warm and sunny past the boundaries. Today she had no books and Lucius had told her she would not be needing her wand. She had brought it anyway as she never went without it.

She hoped they would be going out into the forest but such excursions were infrequent and they had gone only two days ago. Taradan lay at her feet stretched out lazily, Maccaraius was nowhere to be seen and she suspected that he was asleep in some tree.

"I hope he'll actually teach me something this lesson" she said to Taradan. "Recently all he does is try and get me into trouble." The big cat raised his head to look at her and yawned in agreement.

His ears pricked suddenly and he stood up and shook himself out, Lucius had arrived. He was looking worryingly cheerful and Hester was immediately suspicious. Under one arm he had what appeared to be a long sleek broom, but she didn't think it would be any good for sleeping the floor with.

"What's that?" she asked gesturing at the item.

"A broomstick, imbecile" he replied, his usual morning greeting. "You fly on it"

"Oh" she said still completely bemused. He placed it on the ground beside her.

"Hold your hand over it and say up" he ordered. She did so but nothing happened. He smirked and Hester's heart sunk, it was obvious that this was not going to end well.

She tried again with more feeling the broom rolled about but did not rise.

"Up!" she shouted angrily losing her patience with the infernal object. It jerked upwards into her hand and she struggled to hold it steady. It bucked and tugged at her grasp desperate to leap away. It crackled with energy.

"Finally, now get on!"

She swung a leg over the broom and reluctantly placed all her weight on it. It continued to hover, she strengthened her grip. This was a bizarre method of transport, but she was slightly excited at the idea of flying.

"Point the front upwards slightly and push off and then come back down"

"Do I have to?" she asked and then regretted it as his hand whacked into the back of her head. She pulled the broom up marginally and pushed off as gently as she could. She rose slowly upwards. She was about to point it back down towards the ground when Lucius muttered something.

She had a second of panicked realisation that he had cursed the broom before it shot off upwards, taking her with it. Several times it bashed into the limits of the boundaries, the magic fizzed and burnt her robes and she was bruised all the way up her side. But she did not let go, she clenched her eyes tightly and clung to the broom, praying that it would not throw her off. It zoomed round and round the house, ducking up and down and weaving in between trees. Taradan sprinted around below her trying to follow her route but could not help her, he roared his frustration. She tried to point it towards the ground and it shot up towards the barrier. She tried to swerve right, it turned sharply left. It bucked and rolled and shook angrily.

Suddenly it stopped mid air and dived downwards straight into a tree. She fell through the branches and came to a halt, her robes were tangled up and torn, and she was hanging upside down in a very uncomfortable position. She could see the broomstick above her, jerking about and sparking wildly as it tried to free itself from the tree.

She carefully inspected herself. She was coated in a myriad of cuts, bruises and burns and she had scraped a significant area of the skin on her arm off. Her head and sides throbbed from where she had collided with the plasma. Her worst injury was her ankle which was wedged tightly between two branches above her, it was twisted sideways and possibly dislocated as it had halted her downwards descent.

She tried to lift herself up but it sent streaks pain up her leg and she fell back. She carefully pulled her uninjured arm out of her robes were it was tangled and extracted her wand. Making sure she had a firm grip on the branch below her she pointed her wand her ankle.

"Episkey!" she muttered and gasped as foot twisted sharply back into its normal position. It was however still painful and more importantly still stuck. She sighed and turned her body round to see how far she was from the ground.

The sight that met her eyes made her simultaneously want to scream and throw up, stuck between the two she let out a small choking sound and struggled to breath. On the branches below her lay a decaying body, greenish tinged skin, empty, black eyes, long black hair tangled in the leaves and rotting clothes. It was her mother.

Hester desperately tried to scrabble backwards and dislodge herself from the trap, but to no avail.

"HELP ME!" she screamed imploring Lucius to free her.

"Now, now, I'm sure that with your many talents you will have no trouble dealing with that." He called up to her, she could practically see his smirk.

"PLEASE, HELP ME!" she cried. He tutted and began to walk away. She called him every insult under the sun but it just added to his enjoyment of her predicament. Finally she was alone.

She screamed and screamed, waiting for someone to aid her if only to stop her screaming. Her voice gave out long before any help came. Only Taradan ran round the base of the tree barking up at her, raking the bark with his claws. Several times he attempted to climb up to her but he never got further than the first few branches. Maccaraius too came to join her, alerted by the noise and hopped nervously from foot to the other, unable to do much to help.

After much time she realised that she was alone inside the boundaries, Lucius had apparated away and there were no other death eaters around. She realised she would be stuck there til he came back to get her which could be any time from a few minutes to a day.

She averted her gaze from the corpse below her and tried to search her panicking mind for an explanation, for surely Anaya could not have been left in a tree for a year, such an idea was unthinkably gruesome. It had to be some sort of cruel trick.

She remembered how Lucius had been hinting for days about the appearance of some dark creature in their lessons. She brought to mind all the books she had read in preparation, nothing quite fitted the description. A shape shifter of some sort, not a kelpie for they were water dwelling and it wasn't a hag.

She forced herself to look at it and bit her tongue to prevent herself from furthering the hoarseness in her throaght. It did not move, if it was a dark creature it was doing it's best to convince her otherwise.

"Hey! Show yourself!" she yelled at it. There was silence and a cracking sound that set her teeth on edge, every part of her pulled away from the ghoul. One foul, fetid hand reached up towards her, the green bones cracking and knocking together. This time she could not stop it, the scream burst out of her mouth sucking all the air from her lungs, every sense was centred on this hand as it rose towards her, the sleeve crumbling away revealing a maggot infested arm.

"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real." She muttered over and over again, a mantra. Her eyes were screwed shut and her arm was twisted round to shield her face. The bones wrapped around her fingers and pulled her hand down with surprising strength, it was pressed into the body of the corpse to the right side.

And that was how she remained for an hour or so, every part of her screaming in fear and horror, no sound except for the fast beating of her heart and her laboured breathing. She had never felt such fear course through her, more than when faced by her father. It closed her throaght up and stilled her limbs, it danced across her skin and through her bones.

Yet she could not bring herself to free her hand from the thing's grip, the look on its face as it lay there was of peace. Memories of her mother raced through her mind and she found solace in them. Though she knew the vision elicited her deepest and darkest fear, a grisly, twisted memory, she also knew it could do her no more harm than the mental pain she felt from beholding it. She stopped trying to remember what it was. She just waited.

As darkness began to descend she reached again for her wand. She sought not to eradicate the creature for she did not know how, merely to free herself.

"Diffindo" it was said with little feeling but the branches ensnaring her foot were sliced through and released it. She righted herself and half slid half climbed down the remainder of the tree. She staggered inside and collapsed on the grass just outside the house. Taradan nosed his way under her arm and dragged her into the house and up the stairs to her room. There she slept, all night and day.

When she finally rose and made it downstairs and encountered Lucius, she was a changed person, the last remnants of her childhood had evaporated and her heart had begun to harden.

"You are an imbecile, you should have recognised a Boggart" Lucius scolded as she entered. She regarded him with one stony eye and continued in silence. "Well? Have you nothing to say?"

She took her seat slowly and then met his gaze, he visibly quailed beneath hers and looked away. "There are places we must not go Lucius" she began. "You went there. I shall never forgive you for it and should you ever attempt something of the sort again I _will _kill you."

He gulped and stuttered but she had nothing more to say on the subject, she had vowed to herself never to mention it again. She kept her gaze on the open window and let her thoughts fly like silver birds out to their freedom, she did not listen and Lucius felt no power to stop her. To see her you would not believe she was only nine. Taradan lay growling softly at her feet and Maccaraius stared impassively at the man.

Her dreams were haunted by that vision for many weeks.


	6. Chapter 5

Late autumn, a year later

It was drawing closer to her tenth birthday but she doubted she would receive any presents. All her worldly possessions could be packed into a single small box. There was much that she considered her own like her beloved books in the library and all that lay within her mother's room, but he would never allow her to permanently keep them.

Life was little different from one season to the next but as it drew nearer to winter her visits to the outside became few and far between, which was why she was highly surprised that day when Lucius turned up especially early and announced that they would be venturing into the forest and she was to bring her wand.

These days there was little conversation between the two of them and Lucius kept to calling her Miss Dracolas or simply not referring to her at all. He still delighted in seeing her fail but she was exceedingly accomplished at spell casting for a ten year old so such occasions were less than rare. Her potion making was still lacking in even the basics and whatever she attempted to transfigure Maccaraius usually retained a feather or two. But she naively reckoned she could hold her own in a duel.

This was infact what they were doing that day and she allowed herself a small level of excitement at the prospect. As they trekked in silence she watched the antics of Taradan with some amusement, he was joyfully leaping about, diving in piles of golden and flame coloured leaves and chasing his tail. His ability to remain cheerful at all times was one of the few things that warmed her along with Maccaraius's hopping.

"Here should do" Lucius finally announced as they arrived in a clearing. "Get your menagerie out of the way". She sullenly motioned for her friends to retreat to a safe distance and they reluctantly obeyed.

"Remember to mostly block" he prompted. "I should imagine full out duelling is still beyond you. Are you ready?"

But before she could reply he had thrown his first curse "Everte Statum!"

She was thrown backwards and landed on her back painfully some metres back. She immediately sprung at up yelled as many spells as could come to mind "Diffindo! Bombarda! Flipendo! Expelliarmus!"

Lucius blocked all with a few deft flicks of his wand and sent several more silent curses at her which she mostly clocked with a hurried "Protego!"

She tried a different tact "Fumos!" a thick cloud of smoke came between the two of them. "Ascendio!" she muttered and she was propelled into the air, aided by this advantage she hit lucius with the same curse he had originally hit her with and he was similarly thrown backwards. She managed to land without much mishap before she found herself flying backwards once more hit by an unheard jinx.

"Immobulus!" she cried to give her time to regain her upright position and then "impedimenta!" as Lucius advanced towards her having freed himself swiftly.

"Larcarnum inflamarae!" a ball of fire cannoned towards her and she dived to one side.

"Stupefy!" she yelled but he dodged it.

"Petrificus Totalus" her limbs were locked to her sides and she froze into a rigid position, unable to cast any spells she was stuck, she satisfied herself with glaring fiercely at Lucius as he came over to free her.

"Well, that's not very impressive, I've known trolls who could do better than that" he sneered. She rolled her eyes and mentally cursed him. "We ought to give you some sort of incentive"

"Like chocolate?" she laughed.

He frowned at her impudence and then smirked triumphantly "How about a dose of the cruciatus curse?"

It was of great amusement to Lucius to threaten her with this at every possible occasion but she knew that this time he was serious. It was a form of payback for the many times she had hoodwinked him out of teaching her the unforgivables.

She nodded brusquely deciding not to allow him the satisfaction of seeing her discomfort and began to walk back to her starting position. The curse hit her unexpectedly square in her back. Unbearable agony flooded through her system, every square inch of her skin seemed to be burning and she was sure her head would explode under the pressure.

It stopped and she dropped to her knees, breathing heavily and calmed herself by imagining all the violent things she would love to happen to him. She pulled herself to her feet and the duel resumed. Several attempts and pain-inducing curses later the score stood as Lucius nine, Hester nil. Her whole body ached from curses and the lingering feeling of the cruciatus curses and she was completely out of breath and patience.

She straitened up and faced him, if she was going to win, she was going to have to play dirty. "Go on then" she motioned for him to return to the starting position. As he walked away with his back to her she shot a silent stupefy at him.

There was a flash as it came into contact with his shield charms and he spun round but she was already off into the forest weaving in and out of the trees throwing curses behind her to explode the trees and hinder his path. He chased after her but she had the advantage of speed.

"Reducto" a wave of shrubs turned to dust in his path momentarily blinding him.

"Confringo" a branch was blasted from the tree and almost hit him, she cursed her bad luck and sprinted on.

"Mobilarbus" and a log was moved to lie just in front of him. He executed a spectacular trip over it and was sent flying.

"Crucio" she dived out the way as in his indignant anger he started to throw unforgivables at her.

Suddenly she felt herself dropping, she had run over the edge of a ditch. She plunged down and landed awkwardly, there was a crack and pain shot up her leg, her weak ankle had given away again. Sprawled in the ditch she cast a hurried shield charm as curses flew overhead. She began to crawl along the ditch, hoping to scramble out at a safe point.

Suddenly she met with a pair of muddy boots she looked up into Lucius's face as he blocked her path. She tried to scrabble backwards and drag herself to her feet but she was hit down by an unexpected blow.

"That'll teach you to not play fair in a duel" he laughed and slapped her again on the other side of her face. Her anger flared up. The excruciating pain flooded her again and this time did not stop, a cruel look of satisfaction spread across his face as he surveyed her contorted form.

She had to escape from this torture. She had to stop it. She tried to reach for her wand but she couldn't control her limbs for the pain. She twisted sideways and felt herself slipping into darkness. Suddenly there was a bang and she was rushing through empty space, twisting and being thrown violently around, but the pain had ceased.

* * *

When she came to she was lying on soft grass staring at the grey sky. She sat up and realised she was back inside the boundaries, Lucius was nowhere to be seen. And then it hit her, she had apparated. She was not aware it was even possible to apparate within the boundaries, but it had happened.

When Lucius arrived back an hour later with Taradan and Maccaraius in tow, she was sitting in the dining room calmly sipping hot chocolate and reading a book. She silently enjoyed the astonished look on his face and waved aside his queries. When he later informed her father he came to congratulate her himself, a rare moment of visible approval. This meeting filled her heart with pride.


	7. Chapter 6

A few months later, mid December

It was Hester's eleventh birthday, a cold wintery day where the snow could be seen heaped against the boundaries, too much for it to be melted and evaporated by the dark magic. The trees beyond were bare and stark, stains against the pure white snow. But around the house the grass still grew and the trees were still green. She hated to see this unbalancing of nature, it made her feel like she was trapped inside an inverted snow globe.

However this winter there was something she was looking forward to. Ever since she had first found the battered copy of _Hogwarts a History _she had been waiting anxiously for her letter, to go to school would not only be to escape but to actually learn. So her birthday was not to be the gloomy, heartache inducing affair it usually was.

She ate as slowly as she could in the dining room, as it was one of those rare days when her father ate breakfast with her and he normally dismissed her as soon as she was finished. This would however mean that he would receive her letter and she wanted to be present when it arrived. She fidgeted impatiently in her chair pushing her food around her plate.

Finally her father's owl flew in the window and perched on the back of a chair hooting cheerfully. It delivered his letters and then hopped over to her, he stuck out a leg. She took the thick envelope and read the address:

Miss H.

The Bedroom on the Third Floor

Within the Boundary

The Middle of the Forest

Albania

She turned it over and examined the large wax seal with the unmistakable crest, she tore it open and the contents slipped out. She was just about to read it when his hand closed over hers and retrieved the letter. He read it for himself and then surveyed her eager face.

"You won't be requiring this" he said simply and with a flick of his wand the letter caught fire and turned to ash. She stared at the remnants of her hope, fragments of charred paper that were floating out of her reach. It had all been quashed in one moment.

She silently got up and left the room, resigning herself to a life of entrapment.

* * *

A year and a half later

It had taken Hester some length of time to get over the burning of her Hogwarts letter. For many days she had waited in vain at the hope of another letter, but she knew inside that it was a pointless torture and that as he had made up his mind she would not be it reached September she finally had to force herself to accept that she would never go, even if she escaped she was too old for acceptance into Hogwarts.

It was evening and the day had been particularly uneventful although she couldn't truthfully say she had learnt anything. These days she only had lessons with Lucius every so often instead of every day and she learnt more from her books anyway. She was sitting in her favourite spot in the library rereading _Hogwarts a History_ and telling Taradan about her favourite bits.

"It has a huge library!" she informed him happily. "And it's probably full of books full of all sorts of none dark magic and history books! I've always wanted to learn history of magic. I don't think I'd enjoy potions though, seeing how bad I am at it. And quidditch doesn't sound like my kind of thing at all, ugh broomsticks. The ceiling in the great hall is bewitched to look like the weather outside, wouldn't that be great? Just think, you can see the weather in the morning and decide whether or not to go outside. To have so much change in weather would be brilliant after living here for so long. Don't you think?"

Taradan regarded her with one sleepy eye and rested his head on his paws exhaling loudly. She scratched his head between the ears and smiled at his obvious lack of interest.

Suddenly the book was tugged out of her hands and she looked up to see a house elf, who bowed in her direction and then relayed the orders given to him. She was to go to her father's study immediately and was to leave her pets behind. She thanked him and he scurried off.

Levering herself off the floor she bade Taradan and Maccaraius to wait for her in her room and then ran off to her father's study. It was on the top floor and had never been in there, it was a privilege only bestowed upon his closest death eaters. So she was understandably nervous, what if he was going to punish her for something?

When she reached the black door she struggled to pluck up the courage to knock, it swung open of its own accord and she slipped inside. It was plain, the main furniture comprised of a large desk covered in scrolls, letters and strange dark looking objects. There was a large skylight above them and moonlight flooded the room. Her father was sat at the desk reading a letter which he slid into a drawer as she entered.

"Good, come here child!" he ordered and she obeyed. She stood in front of him and bowed. "Give me your arm"

She did so and he took it twisting it so that her palm faced the ceiling. He pulled back her sleeve to reveal her pale wrist and pressed the tip of his wand into the skin. He muttered a few incomprehensible words and a black inky fluid spread across her wrist accompanied by a sharp pain. It shimmered and pulsated as it arranged itself before sinking in to her skin. She now had a black tattoo of a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull.

He released her arm and she quickly covered it up. Rubbing her arm to try and remove the unpleasant tingling sensation.

"What was that?" she asked and then hurriedly added "My lord."

"It's called a dark mark, I give to my followers so that they can show their loyalty to me" he explained with a half smile. "Now leave me, I have work to do"

She nodded and turned to depart before she came across an item on the desk that surprised her. It was a small picture encased in a gilt frame of a man with his arm around the waist of a woman in a long flowing white dress. They were laughing and she had a huge bouquet of flowers clasped in one of her hands. She turned and kissed the man.

She realised she was looking at a picture of her father and mother at their wedding, she stood rooted to the spot unable to drag her eyes from it.

"Is there a problem?" he asked coldly and then he saw her looking at the picture.

"No, nothing. Sorry" she tore her gaze away and headed for the door.

"You may have it if you want."

The reply was so unexpected she almost carried on walking. She carefully picked it up and thanked him before running to her room as fast as she could, skipping stairs and almost colliding with several walls.

She lay on her bed and held it above her. She watched them for hours as they laughed together, the joy on her face was true and evident, but she searched his desperately trying to find something, she did not know what, just that she didn't find it. She fell asleep with her arms around it.


	8. Chapter 7

**Thank you for all reviews etc. i appreciate the support :)**

* * *

It was 15th December and Hester's thirteenth birthday but it looked to be little different from the other three hundred and sixty four days of the year. It was early in the morning and she was still asleep, soon to be woken by Maccaraius crowing a wakeup call. She had lessons scheduled from seven to ten as she always did three days a week. It was a Wednesday.

Her eyes shot open as Maccaraius began his raucous good morning she sat up and stroked his wing feathers. She heaved Taradan off her legs and then swung them round to the side of the bed. She stood up and stretched before selecting some clothes out of her wardrobe. Black leggings and a long black top and robes. She swung her winter cloak around her shoulders and fastened it. As always she wore the ring and the locket and had the picture tucked into the inside pocket. As an afterthought she tucked a handkerchief into the left pocket.

She was now ready for the day and she proceeded downstairs to the dining room with Taradan in tow and Maccaraius perched on her shoulder. Breakfast was a hurried affair as it was almost seven and she did not wish to be late.

But as she hurried to leave a house elf informed her that she was wanted in her father's study. So she took and apple and munched on it as she ascended the many staircases up to the top floor, remembering the last time she had visited with a certain degree of bitterness. She entered and waited for him to finish with his paper. She read it every morning once he had finished with it, although he did not strictly approve and many a time she had had to stuff it down her robes to avoid arousing suspicion. However it was her only contact with the outside and she read it eagerly, pleased to find views that contrasted with what she was always told.

He eventually looked up and she bowed before forcing herself to meet his crimson eyes. Despite her efforts a shudder still ran through her and it did not go unnoticed. He was overly snake like and it made her uneasy.

"Your lessons are cancelled for the morning" he informed her and she breathed a sigh of relief, Lucius had been hinting at having another lesson on broomsticks and she could think of nothing worse.

He stood up and edged out from behind his desk "I have a very important job for you, follow me"

They left the house and headed into the forest past the boundaries, he cleared a path through the snow with an unheard spell and she followed close behind him. She pulled her cloak about her feeling the effects of the sharp wind but he seemed unperturbed by the unpleasant weather.

They walked further than she had ever been before and she was started to feel a tinge of fear creeping over her mind. Where was he taking her? What was this job he spoke of?

He stopped and turned to face her. He handed her a small vial full of a thick blood coloured liquid. She regarded it with a level of disgust.

"Drink it!" he ordered. She looked at him alarmed and shook her head without thinking. It looked like poison, was he trying to kill her? His only response was to take out his wand and point it at her. She panicked, disobeying him would mean certain death, and the potion would mean probable and very painful death, what sort of choice was that?

Her hands trembling she tugged at the cap to the vial, failing to get a grip on the smooth glass sides long enough to pull it open. She managed it and with a nervous glance back to her father to ascertain that she really had to, poured the contents into her mouth.

It was unbearably cold and impossible to swallow, lining her throaght thickly and preventing her breathing. She choked and spluttered and tried to put her hands around her neck but she found she was losing control of her body. A numbing cold spread through her limbs dulling all her senses apart from pain which flooded her in waves, her vision blurred and pulsated, distorting ever image out of shape. The trees seemed to be reaching towards her and the ground was shifting beneath her. She tried to cry for help but no sound escaped her love. Only her mind was clear, enough to feel the pain and try and understand what was happening to her. She hoped her eyes conveyed her fear to her father and that he would help her, she could not accept that he meant this to happen.

She used all her remaining control to muster enough effort to propel her body towards him. she staggered and began to fall but before she met the ground a jet of magic hit her. Black lightening enveloped her and lifted her off her feet. Spiralling around her and piercing her skin, carving its own path through her slight frame up to her mind. As the smoke began to fill her mind, forcing its way through the cracks and casting its sticky web around, the fragments that remained hers retreated deeper and deeper. She came to an open door.

* * *

Tom Riddle stood over his daughter's inert form and sighed. She had an aura of stillness, no breath escaped her lips, the blood was halted in her veins, not a hair on her head shifted from its position, a perfect frozen image. He only had to look at her to know she was dead. A perfect trickle of black liquid had flowed from the corner of her mouth and then congealed. Her skin was ashen and her hair was spread out around her.

He momentarily considered killing her pets, which were staring blankly into the distance under the effects of his imperious curse. He restrained himself, his project had failed but for once it was not anger he felt but a strange feeling he could not quite identify with and a lingering disappointment. He had been watching her these past five years waiting for a sign of the magic he was sure she had inherited from her mother, which would have been of great use to him. He had been pleased with her ordinary magic, he expected no less, but there had been no hint of something more and now she was gone.

The curse he had cast on her was meant not only to awaken her powers but to put them under his control, for he had felt her hatred of him growing like a weed driving its roots deep into her heart. He knelt beside her and ran one of his long fingers across her face.

He rose swiftly and gathered his cloak around him, he would leave her body here in the outside she had always preferred. He disapparated and swept the strange feeling from his mind, it was not of importance, but he secretly promised himself to return the next day.

* * *

The figure glided out from her hiding place and over to the body that lay surrounded by a circle of charred, smoking grass. What horror was this? She wondered, what atrocity had the humans committed? Her brilliant whiteness contrasted with the dark that surrounded Hester. Her long white hair shone and her ghost like robes trailed gracefully behind her as she moved. There was no place in which she could have possibly blended in, yet she was never seen when she did not want to be. Her magic was even more mysterious than her presence and she could feel it flooding her leading her to the child.

She knelt as he had done and ran her fingers along the path he had traced. A pure light flowed from her into Hester. It found the open door and shut it. As it pulled itself back it healed the cracks and pulled the darkness up by its roots consigning it to a small shut off section. And when it left a new power awoke to take its place, reaching further into her soul than even the evil had managed.

The figure was not aware of what she had achieved only that she had brought the child back and even as she looked at her she began to live again. She regarded her, taking in her features and saw so much that she knew. She realised who she had saved a symbol of such horror to her, a proof of the union between Anaya and the monster who lived beyond. Her cousin. She wanted to run from that place to leave the child but she was struck by the memory of Anaya's face and she knew she would not escape retribution. So she carefully lifted the child wrapping the trails of her robes around her. She was surprised at how little she weighed, she seemed to float in her arms.

She transformed into her true form and took off flying for her home, Hester tenderly clasped in her talons. When she arrived she laid her down on the grass and summoned her father.

Hester was not dead, she was dreaming.

She had run til she could go no further and here she took refuge, in a world where no magic existed and so she could not be hurt. Every day she dreamt lasted a year in her dream world and she forgot her previous life.

* * *

Tom Riddle appeared in the clearing, for a moment he thought he must have made a mistake, for there was no sign of her body. But then he saw the burnt outline on the grass and sensed the figure's magic in the air and he realised he had been tricked. She was not dead, she had been taken from him by those people, those who had taken Anaya's body, those who watched his house constantly waiting for a sign of weakness.

"I will find her! She is mine and you have no right to take her! Mark my words, I will find her!" he proclaimed to the sky.

He roared with anger and then disapparated.

Taradan stepped out from the undergrowth, Maccaraius perched on his back. They had been unable to follow the white figure before, the curse not yet broken that clouded their minds. He knew he had to warn them, he knew the reach of his anger, for it had touched him deeply, as it had touched many. He would find her first. He turned and galloped away pounding over the ground, unaware of all that he passed in the blur. He trusted to his nose and his love for his mistress.

* * *

For a long time she had lived happy, but as it progressed she began to remember and she began to wish for her old world, she wished to wake, she wished to live. Thirteen days she lay asleep and thirteen years she spent in her world.

And so she rose up from the depths and waited for the right time to awaken.


	9. Chapter 8

**I'm sorry for the delay. Due to exams I have not been on my computer very frequently and this is quite a long chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"This is where the story starts for both of us,"

"From this point I was always with you"

"I know"

* * *

Hester came to her senses slowly, returning to her body with some difficulty like it was full of treacle and she had to force her soul back into a space smaller than that which she had left. She prickled from head to toe and her limbs were leaden and weighed down. She twitched a finger carefully and felt the damp grass beneath her palm.

She inhaled deeply delighting in the sharp sting from the cold air and the hardness of the ground beneath her head. She ached terribly but she was happy for any feeling so different from her murky dreams. She was alive and the remnants of her dream were cast from her mind.

Her eyes flew open and she gazed in wonder at the forest canopy above her, soft green light filtered through and was soft on her sore eyes. What a glorious sight it was to behold after so many years of waking up to a cracked, white ceiling as a caged bird.

There seemed to be some commotion around her in response to her sudden signs of life but she was not yet fully aware of her surroundings and the commotion went unnoticed. Until a grin appeared above her.

The grin was surrounded by copious amounts of bright blue, curly hair was set into the face of someone who was evidently ecstatic to see she was awake. The girl leaning over her also seemed to have blue eyes, in fact almost everything about her was blue, from her eccentric clothes to her long spiky fingernails that were closer in resemblance to claws. Hester had never seen anything like her.

She shouted something over her shoulder of which the exact words and meaning failed to penetrate the hazy cloud still masking Hester's senses. She closed her eyes again and contented herself with breathing in the musky scents of the forest. She smiled slightly in satisfaction and lifted her limp hand to her face, the tired fingers examined her face. They came to the top left corner and round a rift in the skin, she became aware of the dull throbbing pain that it emitted, it was cold to the touch and the skin around it was uncomfortably tight.

She abandoned her exploration and rested her hand upon her chest listening to her breathing. She opened her eyes again and found that the original grin had been joined by a much more solemn smile and a cold observance. The owner of the solemn smile was golden haired and eyed and seemed to glow with a reassuring warmth, the complete opposite of the white figure beside him. She seemed almost displeased that Hester had awoken and flowers of mistrust had taken root and bloomed in her eyes.

These people were not human, she knew, yet they resonated with a strange familiarity within her she felt she had known them before. She put her hands on the ground beside her and tried to sit up. The golden man placed a strong hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down.

"Rest easy child, do not strain yourself so soon." His calm voice was deep and commanding it demanded a level of obedience even her father had not achieved. At the thought of her father a sour taste came to her mouth and she was filled with a sudden hate and need for revenge. Though she had always despised her father, she had harboured a secret admiration for him and a desire for his approval she could not shake. Now that he had so harmed her and then abandoned her she could finally let her hatred of him flow unrestrained through her being.

She wanted to ask the names of the people who surrounded her and to tell them hers. But she remained unable to speak in their presence. Her thoughts turned to her old life and with a sudden jolt of panic and fear she realised she did not have the reassuring warmth of Taradan beside her and she could not hear the loud squawks of Maccaraius.

"Taradan! Maccaraius!" she cried distraught at the possibility of their deaths and once more tried to sit up, this time aided by the blue girl. What she saw once her vision halted in its spinning made her so completely lost for words that even a gasp did not escape her lips. She sat in the middle of a clearing, with the three people kneeling beside her. Nine dragons filled her vision, iridescent scales in all colours, lithe, powerful bodies with rippling muscles, sparks and puffs of smoke blowing from their flared nostrils, leathery wings furling and unfurling creating gusts of wind. They were the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen, but she was filled with and uncontainable fear at the sight of so many predators.

"Don't be alarmed child, my brethren shall not harm you" the golden man spoke again. He gave her another solemn smile and she puzzled over his strange use of speech.

"Brethren?" was the only question she could manage as she struggled to her feet.

"My sons and daughters," he replied "my wife, Elixir." He gestured to the silver dragon.

So he was a dragon too, or maybe they were shape shifters.

The blue girl grinned and gave a flamboyant bow, one arm crossed across her chest. "Saphira Aqua Dracolas," she introduced herself. "A pleasure to meet you"

"Hester Antonia Dracolas" she replied and she realised why there was an aura of familiarity about the dragons. Not only did they share her surname but she recognised Saphira's name from the list in her mother's locket. They were her family.

* * *

She sat close to the fire, warming her palms and listening to the crackling. The flames danced upon the platform of logs often leaping out towards the dragons who were near to it. It greatly amused Saphira to see her flinch each time it leaped to close to her.

The other dragons had introduced themselves to her in turn. Golden Glaedr the father and the head of the clan, his silver wife the elegant and kind Elixir and their ten children white Crystal cold and elusive, dark brown Na'sun and light brown Ca'lun both polite but distanced from reality, red Jo'hun imperious and hot headed, the black twins Fidum and Ferum boisterous, immature and excitable, ever ready to start a new game, Saphira, of course, who was exceedingly amicable and almost always laughing, purple Damson haughty but polite, green Scallien, known as Scales, as playful as the twins and little Swift. She was the youngest and smallest of the family and her scales were a mixture of browns and dark purples, but she was friendly and talkative.

They would not all tell her their full names, only Glaedr and Saphira who explained that it a name was a powerful thing and shouldn't be bandied about. Hester was mystified by the many rules her new family followed and Saphira did her upmost to teach them to her. She taught her the proper way to introduce herself by bowing with an arm crossed over her heart, she taught her the importance of names and the history of the dragons.

"It started two thousand years ago," Saphira began looking at Hester across the fire from where she sat with her legs crossed. "When thirteen very powerful wizards, your sort, well anyway, they became the first people to be a full animagus. These wizards had managed to turn into dragons, like us, but their transformations were different because they also gained powers."

"Like what?" Hester interrupted recalling everything she had read on animagus eagerly.

"Shush, I'm getting to that" Saphira tutted "So after a while these wizards had spent so long as dragons living in the Albanian forest that they forgot how to turn back. This was not a problem for them as dragons were superior life forms and they had no control over their powers when in human form. The wizards dropped their original names and took up titles relating to their powers. These were: Dragon of the true star who possessed the power of light and speed, dragon of darkness who possessed the power of shadows, the dragon of earth, the dragon of air, the dragon of water, the dragon of true fire, the dragon of love, dragon of peace, dragon of the wild who possessed control over storms, animagus dragon, the white one, whose powers were unknown even to himself, the dragon of pure magic and the dragon lord of all dragons. We are all descended from them."

"Which are you?" Hester asked, Saphira huffed in annoyance at her interruption but begrudgingly answered her.

"Dragon of water descendant, hence the blue, now let me finish explaining"

Hester reluctantly halted the many questions that were attempting to leave her mouth.

"So, we are all descended from the dragon lords, however not all of us have inherited their powers and these days there are often entire clans that have no power. In our clan it is only father, Crystal and me, that is why only we can turn into humans."

"What about mother?"

"Animagus dragon descendant, she was a shape shifter. Normally we look like our dragon forms when we are in human form, I am a blue dragon, father is golden and Crystal is of course white."

"The white one" Hester guessed Saphira nodded in affirmation.

"Father is a dragon of true fire descendant. Your scale colour generally dictate which descendant you will be, dragon of true star descendants are often golden or silver, something shiny anyway, dragon of darkness descendants are black or grey, dragon of earth descendants are green or brown, dragon of air descendants are pale colours or some bluish or purplish colour, dragon of water descendants are blue or purple, dragon of true fire descendants are anything from red to gold, dragon of peace descendants are again a pale colour, dragon of the wild descendants are a dark colour, animagus dragon descendants can be any colour – before you ask, your mother had green scales – white one descendants are white, dragon of pure magic descendants can be any colour and dragon lord of all dragons descendants are always golden. Dragons of no descent can be any colour, of course, but they can't transform into human forms like I can."

"What powers do dragon lord of all descendants have?"

"Well the original dragon lord of all dragons was their leader so the descendant is our leader, you only get one at a time, like with white one descendants and dragon of pure magic descendants. They don't have particular powers as such just the authority to rule, I've never met one."

"There isn't one at the moment?"

"My grandfather was the last and he died before I was born. They thought that father would be the next one, as he's golden, but it came to the naming ceremony – "

"Naming ceremony?"

"Every year the current dragon lord of all dragons descendant calls a meeting of all the descendants, those with powers and those without, and several ceremonies and meetings take place. One of those is the naming ceremony. All dragons which have, by the time of the meeting, reached a certain age, are named. The meetings were always held in this clearing a few miles from here, in the clearing there's this rock, centuries old, some even say that it was created by the dragon lords themselves, anyway it has all the names on it. In the ceremony the dragons who are to be named go up to the rock and try to touch it, if they can't they have no direct descendance, if they do then one of the names light up and they learn their descendance. Like with father, it lit up dragon of true fire instead of dragon lord of all dragons as expected. As it is the meeting doesn't happen anymore."

"Why not?"

"The descendants are a tricky lot, without a leader to guide us and keep us in order we fall apart. We are solitary creatures, clans didn't generally cross in between the meetings unless conflicts occurred. Now we have no leader, we cannot even manage the meeting once a year, so no more naming ceremony. Only those who have a really evident descendance know what they are, although some dragons still visit the rock."

"Oh" they fell into silence and Hester watched the dancing flames for a while, mesmerised by the constantly changing patterns. Her body was still not at normality and she was terrified about what might have been changed. She was surprised to find herself longing for a mirror so that she could properly examine the rift in her forehead. And there was still the pang of worry at the absence of Taradan and Maccaraius. She had asked Saphira if she knew anything of them but she had shook her head and started a new spiel about dragon courtesy. Hester felt that she was trying to avoid any topic that related too closely to her father.

Some time passed in this fashion before she was disturbed again. Fidum and Ferum popped up either side of her and blew smoke rings in her face.

"Hey!" Saphira exclaimed angrily, "You'll asphyxiate her!"

"Just a bit of fun sis!" one of them laughed, they grinned exposing rows of dagger like teeth. The vibrations from their laughter shook the ground beneath her feet, it was a deep, rich sound unlike any she had heard before. It was joyful.

"Come play with us" the other asked Hester. "You too, sis"

"Honestly, you wouldn't know that I was younger than you two. She can't join in your games, you'll end up killing her" Saphira scolded them indignantly but they just laughed at her.

"Come on cos" they said in unison and one reached down and took hold of the back of her robes in his teeth picking her up and placing her none too gently on his back. Before Saphira could stop them they'd both taken off and soared skywards, Hester with her arms flung around his neck was reminded vividly of the stint with the broomstick.

They shot across the sky, ducking and diving, spinning round and round, speeding up into the clouds just to plummet back towards the ground. Hester was both terrified and exhilarated at the experience. Saphira flew up after them in her dragon form to make sure they didn't drop Hester, but also to join in the game, snapping at their tails and flying circles around them, goading them into chasing her. Little Swift and Damson also came up creating a team with Saphira and Scales joined the twins. The aim of the game? To capture Hester.

It was a million times better than a broomstick could ever be and Hester was completely over her initial fear. Gripping the large spike in front of her she stood up and screamed with delight, the wind whipping away her words, she was buffeted by the gusts created by Fidum's wings.

Saphira swooped down on her and snatched her with one clawed foot, transforming into a human midair, they fell together til almost the treetops when Saphira morphed back to a dragon and turned sharply to avoid crashing, Hester on her back.

Hester again stood and leaped to Swift grabbing hold of a spike and managing to hold on. Scales dived past and tore her from Swift with his claws. It was a rough game but the dragons were surprisingly good at not harming their human ball. Ferum explained that they'd had plenty of practice playing with Saphira when she was in her human form. Hester asked them if they'd ever heard of using normal balls. They asked her what a ball was and she found herself embarking on a long explanation of human artefacts from balls to chairs and tables.

This was all surveyed by the disapproving glare of Crystal who hated anything human as far as Hester could tell by her reaction to her. She treated her with pure disdain, refusing often to even look at her. And yet, from what Saphira had told her, Crystal had rescued her and taken her to the clearing that was the dragon's home. Hester failed to understand why she had done so if she hated her so much.

It was starting to get dark and the fire had long burnt down to its embers. The dragons lay around lazily and the twins had already fallen asleep with their heads rested upon each other. Hester sat by the fire contentedly watching them, they were her new family and for all their eccentricities and her not complete acceptance into the clan, she was happier than she had been for a long time.

She thought of her mother and all she had learnt of her, looking back she had always thought her mother to be different from the rest, superior even. She wondered how things might have been if she had been wholly dragon, she might have even have had her own naming ceremony.

Then she thought of what she had been distracted from thinking of all day, her father. Had he just abandoned her there when he thought she was dead? What had he even been trying to do and what had he achieved? Would she ever see him again? Did she want to? To that at least she had an answer, her earlier flow of hatred had abated, but she knew she would never return to him, no matter what happened. She had finally made her escape.

She had slept for so long it seemed she would never be tired again so despite the late hour she got up and wandered around the clearing, watching Scales as his ears twitched in his dreams, fondly observing Na'sun and Ca'lun as they curled into smaller and smaller balls, their tails curled around their heads and their noses tucked under wings. Soon they were all asleep but her and Glaedr who lay in his dragon form watching her in her restless state.

"Something bothers you child?" he prompted. She was tempted to say she was fine but she knew that dragons could tell when you lied. She came and sat down on the rock in front of him.

"I'm worried about what he did to me" She confessed, "I feel like something has changed but I can't tell what"

"It was very dark magic that the murderer performed on you, it should have killed you, and infact it almost did. But when my daughter found you her mysterious magic reacted to you and chased the darkness from your mind. But such darkness will always leave its mark, the scar upon your forehead is testimony to that."

Hester's hand went to the scar. "Do you think that's all it did?"

"For now that is all we can now, it may have had other affects but they have not yet shown themselves. All you can do is wait and see." It was little reassurance but it was better than nothing so she thanked her uncle and stood up to leave.

"Wait, child. Go over there between those two trees and you will find a stream. Use your wand, I'm sure you know a good spell, you can make a mirror for yourself and see if you have changed." she nodded and hurried over to the stream.

Casting a spell and then using the lumos charm to give her more light, she created a mirror in the stream, after breaking through the thin layer of ice that had formed on the surface. She stared at her reflection. The scar went from the very edge of the corner of her forehead right down and across her eyelid, it was black. It looked like an ink stain. Her hair was longer and darker, her skin was paler, her teeth were pointier, her cheek bones sharper, her fingers longer and her nails sharper, more claw like, she was sure she was taller and thinner. A hundred little changes that had changed her into something that was no longer her, like a few years had passed in between her thirteenth birthday and now. But the thing that made her saddest were her eyes, they had been a brilliant dark green, just like her mother's. But now they were a muddy brown, like someone had mixed red with them.

She recalled her father's crimson eyes and supposed that that was what had happened. She frowned and her reflection frowned back at her. She lay on her stomach staring at it for some time, noting all the changes she could find.

Suddenly a clawed hand thrust into the image and it shattered into a thousand fragments and then faded away, the spell broken. Hester looked up into the expressionless face of Crystal. She hastily got to her feet and bowed at her, however Crystal did not return the greeting.

"Do not lose yourself in what you have lost, when you have gained so much" She said and then swiftly melted backwards into the forest leaving Hester alone and completely confused.


	10. Chapter 9

**Hi everyone,**

**Sorry about the wait, i've been on holiday and had a rather annoying dose of writer's block. This was betaread by JunkYardRobot.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows, favourites etc.!**

**Hester Antonia Dracolas**

* * *

The next morning Hester awoke to the painful experience of being poked by a long black claw. Rolling sideways to avoid being speared by it, she sat up to the grinning faces of Fidum and Ferum. Completely unamused by this brusque wakeup call she folded her arms and regarding them with a defiant stare before attempting to lie back down again to no avail.

Fidum nudged her gently with his nose which sent her flying sideways "Come on cos, you were asleep for thirteen days, don't tell us you're tired."

"I'm not tired!" she replied crossly as she hauled herself to her feet "I just don't take to being awoken by your claws, they're really sharp you know."

They laughed at her and gambled off. Sighing in annoyance she sat up once more and got to her feet. Surveying the clearing she caught sight of Crystal lurking gloomily at the edge of the forest partially obscured by hanging branches. Hester suddenly realised that if Crystal had found her then surely she would know something about Taradan and Maccaraius.

However approaching her was something of a daunting task, let alone talking to her and Hester was nervous about attempting such a feat. She braced herself and tried to wander nonchalantly in Crystal's direction without raising any suspicion.

Of course, Crystal realised she was coming before she had got within ten metres of her and turned to glare at her, such was the strength of her gaze that Hester found walking towards harder the closer she got. When she finally came to Crystal she bowed and stepped back politely. Crystal regarded her considering the gesture for a moment and then make almost imperceptible bow in reply.

"Greetings Crystal" Hester said hesitantly. "I apologise for disturbing you but – "

"If you were sorry you would not be here" Crystal interrupted coldly and turned away.

At a loss for a suitable reply to this damning statement Hester found herself opening and closing her mouth like a confused fish.

"Well go on then!" Crystal snapped irritably looking back over her shoulder. "If you're are going to disturb me you better not waste my time as well"

"Umm" Hester stuttered. Crystal sighed in annoyance and turned away again. "No, wait! It's important. You found me right?"

"That would be correct,"

"Umm, did you see a snow leopard or a raven?" Hester blurted out before realising that this made little sense.

Crystal however seemed to see a lot more in this then what Hester thought any sane person would "A giant Snow leopard?"

"Yes, he's my p – friend, Taradan" Hester replied. "Did you see him? Or a raven?"

"I saw neither, however I know of him. I met him five years ago, brought him to this forest. I have long wondered what became of him." Crystal sat gracefully on a rock and motioned for Hester to sit opposite her. She perched awkwardly on a tree stump and looked at Crystal expectantly.

"I'm sure you know by now, from Saphira's incessant ramblings, that my powers are both unknown and frequently uncontrollable?" Hester nodded and she continued. "Well, there are few occasions where they have appeared, in varying forms, the first was at my naming ceremony, a wild dragon crashed into our midst and damaged the naming rock – "

"The what?"

"I'm sure Saphira told you of that" Crystal snapped impatiently and Hester remembered that she had and apologised. "As I was saying, the naming rock was damaged, you would not understand the true implications of this, the rock is the centre of our universe, it holds us all together and is present in so many of our ceremonies, it's a symbol of peace, without it we would be like mere animals. I didn't think I would get a naming ceremony in that terrible moment, I thought my world was over but still I touched the rock. When I came away it was completely repaired and "white one" was shining out at me. Another time I picked up your mother's shoes and they turned to diamond in my hands and when I found you my magic brought you back from the door of death. But five years ago I was in Iceland, I wanted to be alone and places like that are the only ones I don't stick out in. I came across your father…" her lip curled in disdain at the thought of Voldermort.

"Please don't call him that, I don't consider him my father" Hester said.

"Very well, I shall make a note of not doing so. I came across… Voldermort and shielded myself from him, I knew he was the one who had married Anaya and that he had only just killed her. We had felt her death long before we found her body where he'd dumped it in the forest" her eyes crackled with anger and Hester felt herself edging backwards, but it died down and Crystal continued. "I was ready to tear him apart when he began his own killing rampage. From my understanding he had been trying to form some sort of agreement between him and the ice giants and that he had failed. Dead animals lay strewn across his path and some of his accompanying minions; most of the dead were a tribe of giant snow leopards, beautiful creatures with glassy eyes dulled by death. He had slaughtered all of them and disapparated before I could catch him. But then he came out from behind his dead mother, a tiny thing, a cub with big, wide eyes. I made towards him but my magic flowed into him instantly – "

"Is that why he can change into a cat?"

"Yes, that and other things" she replied mysteriously. "So I do know of your pets, although I regretfully know nothing of their current whereabouts, is that all?"

"Yes, thank you" Hester bowed and this time Crystal's bow in reply was much more obvious. She began to walk back to the clearing but she thought of something.

"Can you tell me what it did to me?" she asked quietly, "the curse I mean"

"My magic cannot be controlled, I cannot summon it, so I cannot help you, however…."

"Yes?" Hester said expectantly.

"No I do not think it a wise idea, you are after all only a half dragon"

"I don't understand"

"I was considering taking you to see the naming rock, it may have answers for you, but that is a place only dragons can go."

"But – "

"No, I will not take you there" at that Crystal turned away, effectively ending the conversation.

Feeling defeated but also insatiably curious, Hester wandered back into the clearing where she found Saphira.

"Come with me I'm going flying?" She asked smiling.

"Sure," Hester replied supposing that going flying was synonymous with going for a stroll.

Saphira morphed into her dragon form and Hester clambered onto her back bracing herself against the gust of wind that came from Saphira's wings as she flew. She soared above the treetops gliding gracefully on the breeze and then without warning dived vertically down burst through the trees and swooped back up again.

"What was the point of that?" Hester asked picking leaves out of her hair.

"Breakfast" Saphira grinned. Hester peered around Saphira's neck and spotted the deer she had clutched in her talons.

"Oh, I see."

"I'll land now, we can share it"

Saphira again dived towards the trees, this time pulling up just before and landing gracefully before returning to her human form

"How are we going to cook it?"

"Cook it? What's cook it?"

"You know, where you apply heat to food in order to um cook it?"

"Do you mean you burn it?" Saphira asked in disbelief. "You humans are strange"

"You eat it raw?" Hester asked in disbelief but then realised that as a dragon it was not at all strange for Saphira to only eat raw meat.

Saphira flopped to the ground so that her legs were crossed and began to tear strips of the carcass using her clawed fingers to aid her and stuffing it in her mouth with undisguised relish. Seeing that she would have to be quick if she wanted to eat anything Hester quickly grabbed a chunk and reluctantly threw it into her mouth, swallowing it immediately.

That's not actually too bad she thought tearing off some more. This time she ate it more slowly, it was salty and juicy, far from the meat she'd had at home which had always seemed so chewy and bland. She realised she preferred it and happily tucked in making up for thirteen days of no food.

When they had finished they lay back and stared at the tree canopy, saphira chatting away and Hester listening as usual. Or pretending to listen, she was contemplating what Crystal had said. She would not take to the naming rock, that much was clear, but Hester knew she had to go there, it would give her the information she needed.

"Saphira" she said interrupting her in the middle of a description of her aunt who was a dragon of darkness.

"and then – yes?"

"Will you take me to the Naming Rock?" Hester cut straight to the chase.

"Oh" Saphira said awkwardly. "I don't know about that I don't think Crys – "

"You have to take me, no one else is going to. Crystal said it would hold answers for me I have to go, please!" Hester looked pleadingly at her.

"If Crys said you can't go then I can't take you"

"PLEASE saph!"

"No, stop asking, I'm not going to take you!"

Hester did her best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," Saphira cracked. "By the lords, Crystal is going to kill me"

She morphed into her dragon form and Hester scrabbled onto her back. This flight was a lot longer than the previous ones and for once Saphira was completely silent. Hester distracted herself by watching the endless green canopy roll by underneath them. Saphira soared higher above the clouds as they passed over populated areas, Hester gazed down with curiosity she had never seen a town before. An hour passed maybe more and Hester was beginning to become aware of the fierce, bitter wind that was tearing at her skin and hair. With one hand she pulled her robes tighter around her and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head flattening herself against Saphira's body to benefit from her warmth.

"We're almost there" Saphira said curtly, they were the first words she had spoken since they had eaten and Hester could tell she was already regretting letting Hester persuade her to bring her here. But she had not turned back.

Suddenly she dived and landed precariously on tree, "You'll have to climb down, it's hard to get down in my dragon form" Hester slid down her side and into the tree falling through several branches before coming to a halt and climbing down at a more sedate pace. Her childhood adventures in trees had stood her in good stead when it came to climbing and she reached the ground quickly just as Saphira leaped down beside her.

They began to thread their way between the closely packed trees, they were twisted and gnarled, the further in they went the older they got. Hester stumbled over roots obscured in the gloom squelching through the thick layer of leaf mulch.

She understood why Crystal had not wanted her to come here, the place throbbed with magic and the silence was so thick, it hung oppressively in the air deadening her footsteps. She felt like she was intruding and that even the trees knew she was not meant to be here. But she pressed on hurrying after Saphira.

Suddenly they burst into a huge clearing, the branches from the trees that ringed the clearing stretched out across it creating a roof. Only a small circle right in the middle allowed any light in. Directly below it was a magnificent rock with one flat side, bathed in sunlight it seemed to shine and despite the lack of sunlight and the season the air was pleasantly warm and luscious green grass grew throughout. Beads of dew caught the light reflected off the rock and refracted into a thousand tiny golden threads.

Hester was mesmerised by its beauty. For a moment she let her thoughts wander and basked in the calm. Then she exhaled and broke through the invisible barriers. She didn't notice Saphira stuck from entering behind her nor hear her calling her name. She was absorbed in the hidden paradise.

Drawn by some unseen force she drifted towards the rock, her pale fingers outstretched towards its shining surface, the hem of her cloak dragging through the grass. Unconsciously she let it fall from her shoulders and slipped her feet from her shoes letting them sink into the cool grass. The magic spirits swirled above her. Still she drew closer to the rock.

Her fingers brushed its smooth surface and traced the words carved there. Suddenly her hand was flattened against the rock and she could not move held in place by the magic as it flowed through her, searching every corner of her soul. And then it surged out of her, through her mouth with a burst of fire, through one hand crackling to the ground like discharging electricity plants springing up at the points it hit the earth, stalks soaring towards the sky. Through her head filling it with the words of every language that buzzed like angry bees waiting to flow from her lips, through her shoulders strengthening them for the great weights they would carry, spiralling down her arms stretching them to and then retracting them from great lengths. Through her legs vibrating every atom within in them ready to run, through her other hand binding the winds to it and shaking the ground as it leapt to it, through her skin as she flashed in and out of sight, healing every cut and bruise she had and then out into the air forming a shimmering forcefield, through her neck opening gills and gathering the moisture in the air around her before closing them again. And finally it burst out her back creating a shining crack in her spine bright white feathers sprouted and unfurled into huge wings that beat the air and broke the spell.

Hester was released from the rock and from the magic, her own was now awoken and pumped through her veins like liquid fire, she felt alive. She looked at the Naming Rock and read the name that was now shining "Dragon of Pure Magic". She was a descendant.


	11. Chapter 10

**Hi,**

**This was Betaread by junkyardrobot.**

* * *

Hester ran from the clearing snatching her cloak and shoving her feet back into her shoes. Her speed amazed her and she found it hard to stop when she reached Saphira was staring at her in shock.

"Saph what just happened?" she gasped in confusion. "Am I a descendant? It felt like it set me on fire… I breathed fire! I feel so amazing, I don't understand what's happened? My back hurts like hell though… did I really grow those plants? Saph, talk to me! Saph?"

Saphira did not reply, she did not make any sign of having heard her at all, she was infact staring past her to something over Hester's shoulder. She turned to look but there was nothing there, there was a curious whoosh of air as she turned and something tugged at her back.

"Saph what is it? I don't see anything."

"You have…wings" Saphira finally forced the words out. Hester's hands flew to her back and found the wings as she touched them she found her control of them. She flapped them a couple of times and pulled at them. She started to grin, how many times had she dreamt of flying away and finally it was true. She would never have need for a broomstick now. She began to laugh a feeling of elation crept through her.

She flung her arms around Saphira with surprising force. "Saph, I'm like you!" she cried with happiness.

Saphira couldn't help herself she began to laugh too, before she had been frightening by what she had seen, she had never been to a naming ceremony before and shown the rock only once but she could feel the power surging through her cousin and how it had brought her to life and her joy was infectious. She put from her mind the reaction they would receive when they returned home especially from her sister it did not matter at this moment.

"Let us fly home together, you need not ride on my back this time." She grinned. Hester leaped suddenly pulling Saphira with her; they burst through the canopy and cleared the trees by a good few metres before they began to fall again. Hester soared up towards the clouds, skimming just below the bottom, gliding effortlessly, arms outstretched, her hand in Saphira's. Her cloak was tied around her waist and her robes flowed around her wings as if they had always been there. Her tremendous strength allowed her to keep Saphira level with her and she used her elemental powers to cut the wind so it went either side of them and they remained warm.

Hester felt like a bird that had just been released from its cage she just wanted to fly. Saphira broke away from her and morphed to a dragon, they swooped and dived, spiralling around each other and surfing through clouds.

It was dark when they finally returned to the other dragons. Bats hunted among the trees and swallows flitted across the sky catching insects. A fire burned in the gloom and they could see its flickering light through the trees.

They had landed a while from the clearing in a half hearted attempt to hide what they had done; they knew Crystal would know as soon as she saw them. Even when Hester discovered she could make her wings shrink into her back. So they reluctantly trudged back waiting for the explosion.

They emerged into the opening and Glaedr looked up with obvious relief "Where have you been?" He asked.

Their hearts sunk, the second they opened their mouths he would know they were lying. "We went for a fly and got a little lost" Hester said, this was partly true, they had been flying and Hester certainly had no idea where they were, but it was still a lie of omission and Crystal saw through it instantly.

"You went to the naming rock didn't you?" she said quietly her eyes cold with fury.

"Uh" Hester stuttered panicking.

Crystal screamed with fury and charged at her before Glaedr could restrain her. She raised her hand crackling with energy and brought it down with such speed and force that Hester could hear the air whistling as she sliced through it.

There was a boom and the ground shook, crystal was thrown backwards. There was a shocked silence and Hester opened her eyes. Her arms were raised around her head and a forcefield shimmered in front of her it had not just repelled Crystal's attack but absorbed it and strengthened. She let her arms fall and the forcefield dissipated. A smile crept onto Glaedr's face and Saphira cheered from behind her.

As she had summoned the forcefield her wings had bursted out of her back and curled over her head like a shield. She pulled them back and tried to fold them, she was reminded of Maccaraius and felt a pang of longing.

Crystal pulled herself to her feet gracefully and observed Hester, her eyes were still cold but the spark of fury had gone and Hester knew that she wouldn't be able to call her magic up so easily.

"You are a descendant," Glaedr said "I should have known, any child of Anaya's would be. And what a descendant you are, we haven't had a Dragon of Pure Magic descendant in fifty years"

"Well, of course, only a descendant could have survived the curse placed upon you" Crystal said scornfully. "To think, a half breed bestowed with such and honour it's disgusting" she sneered her lips drawn back to reveal long white teeth. "You have defiled our sacred place"

"Crystal," Glaedr barked his eyes flashing with anger. "Do not speak to her in this way, she is our guest and to be treated in a manner suiting to it"

Guest? Hester had thought she had been instantly become a member of the clan but now she realised that even as family she would have to be accepted by all before she could even consider her stay with them as permanent. And with Crystal loathing her in the way that she did she had no hope.

"Guest," Crystal sneered, she had, of course, noticed Hester's discomfort. "You are an imposter"

"Crystal, she is one of us" Saphira snapped.

"Exactly" Fidum and Ferum chorused. "She's related to us, she's more one of us than we are"

The other dragons muttered their agreements even those who had disapproved of her before, now she had been revealed as a descendant they no longer objected to her presence. But Crystal detested her more than ever.

"Perhaps I should…" Hester began, attempting to suggest that they should discuss it out of her presence; they were already acting like she wasn't there.

"No, you should not suggest anything, it is not your place" Crystal snapped, "If you are our guest then we can send you away, be gone you of false pretences, we will not aid you any longer"

"That is not you discussion" Glaedr growled. "You are sensible, child, we will hold a clan meeting, Swift stay with her"

Swift nodded and raised herself from the ground with a yawn; "Come cousin" she led her away through the trees, to the small stream she had seen before. They sat in silence Hester contemplating what her options were if they decided to kick her out. There were none.

"Swift, why does Crystal hate me so much, I know she hates humans but surely my descendance proves I am more dragon than I am human, I certainly feel that way… I mean…"

"She is sensitive" Swift said after a pause. "And she feels oppressed by her responsibility; she has been burdened by it since she discovered she was a white one descendant"

"Why?"

"Because they are very rare and very powerful, a lot is expected of her and no one who can instruct her and understand her, she doesn't even know her own powers. Whatsmore there had been a significant gap between her and the last one, about three years. Anyway, she is always scared that her magic will do something bad so she distances herself from other dragons to avoid having to use it at all. And then there is the unmentionable one, has never interested in his duties in the clan and he wanted to be a human, at the same time he was irresponsible and violent. One day he just upped and left without warning. Anaya told us he had killed one. We banished him, he has no name now. This hurt Crystal so much. She had a responsibility that she couldn't escape from and he abandoned his duties without a care. "

"This does not explain why she now hates me," Hester thought of the list of names in the locket, there was one more name on the list than there were dragons in the clan, Da'sun Stormdragon Dracolas, he must be the unmentionable one.

"It is because you are a half blood; she hates humans for luring away the unmentionable one as much as she hates him for leaving. And you can abandon your responsibilities as easily as he did because of your blood, you do not probably understand most of them."

"I see" Hester knew she would never leave despite responsibilities, they were her only family.

They sat in silence once more. Hester took the locket off her mother's hand writing on the paper inside, it was curly and hard to read but it brought forth memories of her and Hester would look at it to calm herself whenever she was stressed. She replaced the locket and slid the ring off her finger, it was a routine she had gone through many times. Except this time when she looked at the strange incomprehensible hieroglyphs they seemed to rearrange themselves into English letters and she understood what they meant. "Never forget those who share your name and your blood". She realised that the ring had been a gift from Glaedr to her mother, and she realised she knew how to make Crystal accept her. Finally she took out the photo of her mother and her father and very carefully ripped it down the middle so that they were separated. The half with her mother she tucked away again with her wand. The other half she set on fire.

She watched the bright orange flames lick up the photo as the edges blackened and curled up, eventually all she had left was a pile of grey dust. She raised her hand to her lips and blew. It burst out in a shimmery cloud and dissipated into the surroundings, it was her way of letting all memories of her past go.

She looked up to see Swift watching her. "It's just something I should have done a long time ago" she smiled but she wanted to cry, she should have been able to celebrate this moment with her mother. She had never escaped.

At that moment Saphira ran over and flung her arms around Hester, "You've been accepted into the clan!" she cried joyfully. "You're one of us now!" they started to walk back to the clearing

Hester was both elated and relieved but something niggled at the back of her mind "Even Crystal?"

"No, we bypassed her" Saphira said sheepishly.

"Then I must talk to her" Hester said resigning herself to her suicidal truce attempt.

"Are you crazy?" Saphira asked disbelievingly.

"Do you have a death wish?" Fidum asked.

"I do not think that would be wise, child, she will not welcome you with anything other than violence, you took her by surprise before, but you would never best her in a real fight. None of us can." Glaedr warned her.

"I must. She is my cousin and if I leave it we shall never be reconciled. I will talk to her" Hester said determinedly.

"You do have a death wish" Ferum said incredulously.

"I see we cannot persuade you otherwise" Glaedr sighed. "Alright, child, it is your choice but be careful, I cannot guarantee the behaviour of my own daughter"

Hester bowed to him and the others and headed off into the forest following the trail of burnt plants and exploded trees the path of destruction left in the wake of Crystal's fury. She walked for some while before bursting into a run. She sped through the trees, her surroundings a blur.

She skidded to a halt at the side of a river, after a moment's hesitation she leaped over it and overshot by a several moments. There she found Crystal in her human form, acrid black smoke billowing from her nostrils. She bowed deeply to her one hand across her heart.

"How dare you disturb me? Come to gloat over your insidious victory, what filth you truly are" she growled, in what Hester now realised was dragonese and not English as she had first thought, she had understood it all along.

"I am not here to gloat, cousin – "

"You are no cousin of mine, _Xatera_"

"_Naudra geti jen stilarka y frezti kinome, _Crystal_, _Never forget those who share your name and your blood, Crystal, you are my cousin and I am not part of this clan til I receive your acceptance, I may be human, but I will always reject my human blood and I will not abandon my responsibilities"

Crystal looked daunted by this but the flowers of mistrust still bloomed in her eyes "You say that, but you know nothing about it"

"You think I would leave, or risk being thrown out? This clan is my only family, there is no where I could or would wish to go"

She looked away from me "I'm sure you will soon forget and be eager to return to your human life"

"Crystal, look at me" Hester snapped. "Do you really think I could forget? Every day I will wake up and remember what he did to me, every time my scar hurts, every time I think of my mother, I will never forget"

"I admit, you will not forget. But I can never risk trusting you" she said quietly.

"My name is Hester Antonia Dracolas. My mother is dead and my father is dead to me. I had nothing. For a moment I died too, my eyes closed and I took my final breath, the blood was stilled in my veins. But you brought me back and so I owe my life to you. You could have left me where you found me but you brought me back to your family and gave me a new one. I owe my happiness to you. Crystal I trust you with all my heart you share my name and my blood, surely that is all that matters?" Hester said. "Crystal, I lay this in your hands. I will stay if you let me, but if you cannot accept me I shall leave and never return."

She waited terrified, she knew that she was taking a huge risk, she could lose everything if she had judged this wrong. With every second of silence her terror and doubt grew. Crystal looked up slowly, her face was blank, but the flowers had wilted and disappeared from her eyes. Suddenly her face slid into a smile and she began to laugh, a deep rich sound that seemed to rise from her very feet and explode into the surroundings to echo for miles.

"How brave you are" she smiled. "I admire you, though you are foolish to trust someone like me"

"I admire you too, you hold many responsibilities and yet you do not crumble. You are truly brave"

"Thank you cousin, you are kind like your mother, she was always good to me despite how cold I could be. You do not need my permission to stay if anything I need you, this clan needs you, you fill the hole left by Anaya and you bring warmth we have long since felt. Please never leave us, I will follow you wherever you wish to go, even if you want to live with humans."

"Thank you Cousin!" Hester exclaimed delighted.

"And, Hester"

"Yes?"

" My _Stilarka_, it is Crystal Fiddhir Dracolas, I entrust it to you "

Hester could not stop herself she ran at Crystal and hugged her, she gasped in surprise but did not remove her. "I have always wanted a sister"

"Now you have five" Crystal laughed, "But you are somewhat invading my personal space, I presume this is some sort of human thing"

"Sorry" Hester said awkwardly. Crystal offered her a hand and she gratefully took it. Together they walked back to the clearing in amicable silence. A little while before she stopped her and turned to face her.

"Cousin, there is something I must tell you" she began. "I neglected to tell you the truth earlier. I did know something of what he did to you…" She paused and took a deep breath. "You are not growing"

"What do you mean?" Hester said confused.

"You are stuck, frozen at thirteen. You will not grow any older, you hair will grow no longer, you will not get taller, everything about you is stationary. Even your heart has stopped mid beat, think about it, you haven't felt it have you?"

Now Crystal mentioned it Hester realised it was true, she could feel no heart beat and she felt strange.

"Yes, you are right. But I don't understand how can I be living and this be so?"

"You're not living, you're not dead, you are caught in between. Halted by dark magic that tries to push you towards death. Supported by your pure magic which stays at your back and pushes you towards life. My magic brought it forth to fight the dark and in doing so it closed a door. Now the two must fight it out, for now they will stay as they are but one day there forces will become unequal and you will either die or return to living. For now you are merely alive."

"I see, so it is a battle of wills? And does that make me immortal?"

"Yes, only you and the magic of the dragon lords can beat it, I cannot tell you when that day will come but know this, it will be many years hence, you need not think of it for a long time. As for immortality, I'm afraid not, you can still die like any normal person, however I cannot tell you if you will live forever if you avoid injury and illness, you may only live as long as you would if this had not occurred and die of old age still looking like a thirteen year old"

"Thank you Crystal, I value your advice I shall endeavour to use it" Hester replied trying to look cheerful, she was infact filled with a growing dread, her ordeal was not yet over and she was a dead man walking. At least, she thought, I shall never have to worry about dieing of injury, with my powers I am practically invincible. And she knew she had gained a lifelong friend in Crystal.

She tried to put it the back of her mind as they returned to the welcome of the other dragons and their surprise of seeing Crystal smiling and holding Hester's hand.

"I don't think I've seen you smile for years!" Johun exclaimed "What a remarkable effect you do have on us, cousin"

"Indeed, brother, it has been way too long." Crystal smiled, she turned to Glaedr. "Father, I spoke rashly and I was in the wrong, I ask your forgiveness"

"Willingly given daughter" Glaedr said solemnly, as Crystal turned away he smiled at Hester his eyes told her he was thankful.

"I should imagine we are all hungry" Na'sun broke the awkward silence. "I shall go hunting, welcome to the clan cousin" He took off.

"Now you are part of the clan, you should know my full name" Elixir said. "It is Elixir Maria Dracolas"

"Yes!" the twins exclaimed, "Fidum Gemini Dracolas and Ferum Gemini Dracolas"

One by one the other dragons introduced themselves, Ca'lun Nawhista Dracolas, Johun Manike Dracolas, Damson Indigo Dracolas, Scallien Hashel Dracolas, Swift Inxeh Dracolas and when he returned Na'sun Amina Dracolas.

Hester bowed to them all and thanked them profusely, honoured and grateful for their trust.

They sat together eating and chatting for many hours into the darkness, but Hester had never felt more happy, her worries over her uncertain fate were long forgotten.

She had just fallen asleep when taradan crashed into the clearing followed by Maccaraius who was flying overhead. She woke up leaped up and ran at top speeds towards them with scream of delight.

"Taradan! Maccaraius! You are alive! You are safe! How I have missed you!" Taradan leapt up and placed his paws on her shoulders and began to lick her face she hugged him.

"I too have missed you greatly" Taradan rumbled. Hester gasped, she could understand him.

"Find, find, find. Hetta, Hetta! Danger, danger" Maccaraius croaked in chattery raven language, repeating each word several times.

"I can understand you!" Hester grinned. She could hear both the growls behind her words. Realising that she was speaking leopard language whatever it may be, she repeated it looking at Maccaraius this time she could hear squawks behind her voice. The raven landed on her shoulder and hopped from foot to foot.

"At last" Taradan laughed. "I have known what you say since I met you, for I too have chameleon speech thanks to your cousin."

"I might have forgotten to mention that" Crystal admitted.

"Welcome," Glaedr said bowing to the pair. Taradan bent front legs and bowed his head close to the ground.

"A pleasure to meet you" Taradan said, his voice was deep and rough just as Hester had imagined it.

"Danger, danger! Hetta, Hetta, danger! Leave!" Maccaraius said impatiently. Hester translated for the dragons.

"What is it?" she asked worriedly.

"Your father, he knows you're alive and he's coming to find you, you must flee" Taradan warned them.

"_Jugduren!"_ Crystal cursed.

Hester turned to Glaedr, the fear was already started to rise choking her throaght "Uncle, what do we do?"

Glaedr was silent for a moment, "We leave" he eventually announced, there were cries of dismay.

"We cannot do that" Crystal raged. "I vote we stay and rip that foul thing to shreds!"

There were several declarations of agreement before Glaedr cut them off "Enough! Leaving is the wisest option, we have lived too close to that tyrant for too long. I say we leave, we leave, my decision is final. Hester is not ready to confront him and we know nothing of his true abilities. Prepare yourselves we fly now"

"But where will we go? This is our home" Ca'lun cried devastated.

"Britain, that is where he comes from and there are many there who fight against him, I am sure, we will find allies and his defeat will be all the sweeter for the wait. Come now Ca'lun things never last forever. Let us go"

Hester was secretly thrilled, though she was sad to be leaving the beautiful forest behind she had always wanted to go to Britain, after all, Hogwarts was in Britain. Maybe she could still go.

The dragons resigned themselves to it. They put out the fire and stretched out their wings. Hester grew out her own wings and began to fill Taradan and Maccaraius in on the events of the past few days. When everyone was ready, Taradan shrunk to cat size and leapt into her arms and they took off Maccaraius flying by her head.

Many hours later they reached England.

* * *

There was a bang as Tom riddle apparated into the clearing. He surveyed his surroundings the flattened grass and the charred branches that proved her people had been here. They had only just left but he had no hope of finding them now. The trail had gone too cold and the spells he had previously cast on his daughter in order to always find her had worn off in his absence from her side.

He was filled with anger with a flick of his wand a burst of green destroyed everything in its path. He stood in a circle of dirt and yelled at the sky. They had cheated him.

He would not know if his plan had worked up, unless he found her. He made a mental note to send some expendable death eaters after her, he knew they would not last long if they came across her people.

He had little faith in ever seeing her again.

* * *

"So that was how I left my old life behind me"

"And learnt of your powers"

"Yes that too, they have been greatly valuable to me, but not as much as my family"


	12. Chapter 11

**Hi,**

**This was Betaread by junkyardrobot.**

* * *

Ten months later

When Hester woke she was momentarily disorientated by the strange shadows that danced against the tree trunks as the wind blew the leaves on the branches above her. She sat up quickly and blinked adjusting her eyes to the dim light. It was early in the morning and the light was soft and weak barely penetrating the canopy to reach the forest floor.

The fire had burnt down to its embers which glowed softly and emitted only the faintest warmth swamped by a pile of powdery ash. It was cool and damp in the shade and there was a blustery wind that played with the edges of her cloak and unsettled the golden leaves that lay in piles, heaped against the trees. In the dim light she could just make out the vague shapes of the sleeping dragons, Taradan and Maccaraius, a black ink stain in the rich hues of the tree branches.

Hester stretched and took out her pocket watch, it was five o clock. If she left now she could be back before the other dragons awoke. She developed a love for early morning walks around cities, observing people, trying to spot wizards. She knew that her family would not approve but it was the best way to gather information about Voldermort, she would find copies of the Daily Prophet and read them cover to cover. She was careful to act as normal as she could so as not to betray herself to muggles, although she got many strange looks in her robes and long cloak. She arranged her fringe over one eye in order to hide her scar. More than anything it excited and interested her to see so many people all at once, she had never been in a crowd before. She would spend hours in the library, reading anything and everything she could about the muggle world to make up for her lack of wizard books.

She apparated into London, her favourite city of those she had visited. That particular morning something strange seemed to be happening, owls were flying around in daylight, a sure sign of communicating wizards, random bursts of magic appeared as she walked through London, marvelling at the cars (which often almost ran her over) and other muggle made things. Sparks were spiralling through the sky, ("How strange, fireworks in daytime!" a muggle remarked.) flowers grew from everywhere from window sills to cars, and there were gatherings of cloaked people in pointy hats everywhere. Wizards. Hester approached a group who where all wearing velvet cloaks of rich reds.

"Yes, it's true" one muttered.

"The potters?"

"Yes, both dead, a tragedy."

"But the boy survived?"

"Against all odds!"

"And is –" at this point the wizard leaned in conspiratorially and whispered. "You-know-who…"

"Yes, dead"

Who exactly You-Know-Who was they did not explain and Hester had to hurry on before they noticed her. The next group she came upon were huddled over a newspaper.

"Amazing!" one exclaimed, he was wearing exceedingly flamboyant robes and the toes of his shoes curled up the ends.

"I didn't believe it when Gladys told me, but if the daily Prophet Report it, it must be true!" another said confidently.

"And the boy survived!"

"A miracle!"

Hester gathered up some courage "Excuse me, is it true? Is You-Know-who….?" She bluffed, hoping it was convincing.

"Here have a look" the first wizard offered the newspaper. Hester took it and read the huge headlines that were plastered across the front page.

_You-Know-Who defeated by infant Harry Potter_

This informed her no further, she wandered how many questions she could ask without revealing her total lack of knowledge.

"But how could an infant possibly defeat….?"

"I know, HIM! It's a day to rejoice! Wizards up and down the country are celebrating, do you have any plans?"

"Oh, no," Hester said truthfully, still utterly bemused.

"You _must _come with us then!" the flamboyant wizard insisted

"Oh, no, I couldn't" Hester said, desperately trying to avoid the possibility of being dragged off to a party when she ought to be getting back to the dragons.

"Oh no, I insist, you can't have other plans on a day such as this!"

"Dedalus," another wizard said sternly. "Don't pressure her, she's probably been hit hard by the war, most of us have lost relatives"

"Yes," Hester said, trying to look forlorn.

"Ah, at least we know we shall never see the Dark Mark in the skies again" He said wisely.

A sudden realisation came over Hester, she had to get back. "Well, I must be going, thank you"

"Don't mention it" the flamboyant wizard smiled taking his hat off and bowing to her. "You can keep that if you want"

She bowed back and hurried off. Once round the corner she disapparated and arrived in the forest just as the dragons were beginning to eat breakfast.

"Where have you been?" Scallien spluttered, his mouth full of food.

Hester breathlessly held up the newspaper to show them the headlines.

"What is it?" Saphira asked chucking her some meat. "Who's You-Know-Who?"

Hester was too excited to eat "He's dead! Gone!"

"Who's dead?" Taradan asked. "What are you going on about?"

"Calm down child" Glaedr instructed and Hester sunk to the ground, still clutching the newspaper "Eat something, than tell us what happened. I presume you were out on one of your city walks again"

Hester looked up in surprise and Glaedr laughed "Surely you did not think we had not realised you were missing? We just left you to it"

Hester was momentarily relieved but she had a more urgent matter to sort out "Voldermort, my father, he's dead. Defeated. Gone."

The forest resounded with the cheering of the dragons.

"_Hoinemoi, _how fabulous!" Saphira cheered.

"I am just angry we did not get to do it ourselves!" Johun said in a mildly pompous manner.

"We need a plan" Glaedr said thoughtfully as he read the newspaper he had managed to prise out of Hester's grip. "I think it would be wise to contact the ministry of magic, now that he is dead they will be aiming to capture all his followers. You have his mark, and knowledge of his safe house and I should imagine the ability to call his followers to you. I should imagine that they will find this very useful and therefore be willing to provide you with whatever you should need. What is it that you want child?"

"Hogwarts" Hester blurted out. "I want to go to Hogwarts, they have a huge forest you could live in, and few humans enter it. Saphira there's a huge lake! And there are mountains nearby and it's far from any cities or anything like that."

The dragons watched as she talked about Hogwarts with an enraptured look on her face.

"It sounds amazing" Swift said in awe of her view of Hogwarts.

"To be near a lake would be a welcome change" Saphira grinned.

"And far away from Muggles – " Fidum began.

"-and only a few wizards who will not bother us." Ferum finished.

"Plenty to eat and you could bring us food if we ran out" Na'sun said practically.

"I've always wanted to go to mountains!" Ca'lun said dreamily.

"We could fly for miles around, much further than we've been able to in England" Damson added.

"Hogwarts is in England you idiot" Fidum laughed.

"Well, it's in Britain, no one knows exactly where it is," Hester pointed out.

"Oh fine, you win" Ferum grinned.

"So are we decided?" Elixir asked. Hester's cousins all cheered roaring statements of agreement.

"That is what we shall do, then." Glaedr agreed. "We shall write to the ministry, however…"

"What?" they chorused anxious that anything might block them from their new dream.

"It might be wise if only Hester goes; our race has stayed hidden from wizards for many a millennia and they will see us as mere wild dragons, this will make it harder for Hester, she already has to battle discrimination from the legacy of one parent. If they think she is wholly human, they will find it easier to join her cause. If you write to them and pretend to be alone, yes that would be best"

"Ok, I can send Maccaraius, you'll have to help me write it though, Crystal, will you help?" Hester consented although she was daunted by the prospect of being without her family's guidance, even if she was still living she would only be fourteen.

"Of course, cousin." Crystal smiled procuring a sheet of parchment, "We'll use one of your feathers as a quill, let us begin"

* * *

"Had I known what I was about to walk into, I would not have gone"

"Ah, yes. Much grievance could have been avoided, yet if you had not gone, who knows what would have happened after."

"I suppose you are right"

"Every action leads to our fate, some just take a shorter route"

"Yes"

* * *

Hester hurried swiftly along a street, pulling her cloak closer around her to protect against the cold. Taradan scurried along, following her ankles in his cat form. Maccaraius was perched on her shoulder. She had her hood up to hide her face, golden tendrils of hair spiked out from around the black material. The bottoms of Her black boots were just visible below the hem of her robes. The ring sparkled as it caught the light, the only patch of colour in her entire outfit. She cut quite a figure.

A few weeks ago she had sent a letter to the head Auror, Bartemius Crouch, explaining who she was and what she had to offer the Ministry. It contained little information and Crystal had helped her make it as formal as possible. If Crouch were surprised by it he did not show it and his reply was even shorter. It invited her to the ministry for a meeting, which was where she was now headed.

She stopped when she came across a scarlet telephone box with an out of order sign on it. She tugged open the stiff door and all three of them squeezed inside. As instructed she pressed the buttons 6-6-4-4-2-2.

A cheery voice started up "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic! Please state your purpose and number"

"Hester Antonia Dracolas," She said clearly. "Here to meet with the Head Auror, two others"

"Thank you! Please take the badges which are dispensed below. Have a good day!"

There was clatter and three badges fell out into Hester's hand, they read "Meeting with Head Auror". She pinned one to the front of her cloak, one to Taradan's collar (acquired primarily for this visit) and the last to the ribbon on Maccaraius's leg where she normally attached letters.

There was a clunk and the telephone box began to move downwards. After a few moments it emerged into the main hall of the Ministry and landed. The door swung open and Hester glided out. Taradan grew to his full size to the surprise of the surrounding wizards, he grinned at Hester and said to her in dragonese "We got their attention," Hester hid her smile by turning her head to survey her surroundings. The ministry was layered with dark green tiles and had fire grates all along its length from which people were emerging in a flash of fire, floo powder. In the middle was a huge fountain with several golden figures in it.

Standing by this fountain was a tall man with a moustache and stern face. He was wearing smart, formal black robes and stood with his hands behind his back. When Hester reached him she bowed with one arm crossed across her heart.

"Greetings, Mr Crouch" she said as she pulled down her hood, he looked mildly surprised at how young she looked.

"Miss Dracolas," He replied. "I must ask you to submit your wand for inspection"

Hester nodded and reluctantly presented her mother's (and her own) wand to the security guard who gave it a wave and ran a dark magic detector over it. Deeming it correct he passed it back to her and she put it away inside her robes.

"Please follow me" Crouch ordered and turned sharply heading off towards a lift. Hester kept pace with his long strides easily and Taradan lolloped along beside her. After a lift ride and walk along many corridors which Hester only just managed to keep track of, they arrived at his office.

They sat down on either side of his desk and he offered her a cup of tea which she willingly accepted, having found a lack of hot drinks rather hard. She placed it on the desk in front of her.

"As I understand from your letter you wish to aid the ministry in the capture of the remaining Death Eaters?"

"That is correct, while I never had any role in Death Eater activities, I am sure that many would trust me due to my relationship to – " she had to force herself not slip back to old habits of calling him the dark lord "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Many are still searching for him, they will probably see me as a source of information, this provides a perfect trap into which we can lure them"

"I see," Crouch said making a note on a sheet of parchment. "And do you have any names for us?"

"I have lived the majority of my life at his house in Albania, which may be of some interest to you, few death eaters visited him there and he was absent most of the time, however I can give you a few names."

"Good," he replied making another note. "And it would be useful to visit this house"

"There was Lucius Malfoy, he was always around the house, a member of his inner circle"

"No, he has been cleared, he was under the imperious curse"

This stumped Hester a little bit, she had hoped to get him arrested, a shame, she knew that the imperious curse ruse was a lie. "There is Evan Rosier,"

"We are currently hunting for him"

"Igor Karkaroff, Bellatrix and Rabastan Lestrange, Yaxley, Travers, Regulus Black"

"Captured, on the run, on the run, captured, dead" Crouch replied making more notes on the parchment. "Do you have any idea of their current whereabouts?"

"No" Hester lifted the cup of tea and was about to drink it when she caught a strange scent that was definitely not normally included in tea. She realised with a shock that it was some sort of truth potion that her powerful dragon sense of smell could just pick up, probably veritaserum. To test her theory she pretended to drink some evaporating the liquid with a her dragon's breath. She waited for Crouch's next move.

"I'm going to ask you again," Crouch said putting his hands together and leaning on the desk. "I need you to tell me the locations of all the Death Eaters."

"I don't know" Hester repeated stubbornly.

"Where were you on the night of 31st October?" he barked

Hester stood up swiftly knocking her chair over a look of cold fury filled her face. "Mr crouch you have betrayed my trust and attempted to use veritaserum on me. Please explain yourself"

"Hester Antonia Dracolas. I am arresting you on suspicion of assisting the murders of James and Lily Potter and being a member of the group known as Death Eaters and partaking in their activities. Also on several counts of using the unforgivable curses and of other serious dark magic. Altogether it's enough to land you with several life sentences in Azkaban, although you are still underage according to the trace."

"LIES!" Hester roared "I never worked for my father I detested him and he cursed me, that was not my magic!"

"You were his prodigy, you were taught personally by him and you were always loyal him til he was defeated, of course you were there"

Hester had had enough, she knew she had nowhere further to go with the ministry and the wisest course of action was to leave as quickly as possible. She turned on her heels and began to trot down the corridor, Taradan following her.

"Stop her!" Came the inevitable call. She broke into a run as Aurors and security guards began to appear from everywhere and chase after her, jinxes whizzed overhead and walls exploded either side of her. In one fluid movement she scooped up Taradan as he morphed into his cat form and started running at full inhuman speeds. She soon broke away from her hunters and crashed into an elevator, evicting those inside with a snarl. The door clanged shut just as the curses started up again as they came into range.

Soon she was in the main hall and surrounded. Her original aim had been to escape without revealing too many of her powers, at this rate her chances of achieving this seemed slim. She was bombarded from every side with hexes, jinxes and curses and she was forced to summon her shield charm.

"Sifilus Protecta!" she yelled. If she used the spell she could make it big enough to cover other people, and she had Taradan and Maccaraius to protect. The spells from the ministry workers were absorbed into the forcefield, the rain of blows making the ground vibrate. With a wave of her arm vines burst out of the floor and cleared a path to the nearest grate, swiping the wizards out of the way. She started to run towards it just as golden bars started to slam down on them. She screeched to a halt burning the floor and started to leap up the wall hoping to smash through the ceiling. This was accompanied by the amazement of all those witnessing her feat.

Suddenly a spell slammed into her back and in her moment of disorientation she fell from the wall, she landed on her feet safely despite being fifty metres of the ground. She felt stiff and sleepy and realised she had been hit by a stupefy charm and only her dragon genes had prevented her from falling unconscious. Instantly she was swamped by aurors she swung her fist wildly and connected with someone's face with a satisfying crunch throwing him backwards several metres. She jumped and twisted midair to deliver a karate kick to another, landing on the head of one of the golden figures in the fountain.

Hester concentrated her power on the water below and with some effort it rose and swirled round her obscuring her from view. She then sent it to sweep a clear path to the telephone box. She turned it to ice and began to skate across it, avoiding any who tried to stop her. There was a bang and the telephone exploded with the aid of an Auror who realised her intentions.

"_Jugduren_!" she cursed, seeing no other escape options she turned sharply to the side and disapparated.

* * *

The silence that followed the bang of disapparation was deafening. It was supposed to be impossible to apparate to or from the ministry and yet it had happened.

As the cleanup began, Bartemius Crouch returned to his office. The Ministry had been gathering information on Hester ever since the magical quills of Hogwarts sent out a letter to her. There had been many rumours on her, some spread by Death Eaters after the defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He had been bluffing about his knowledge of Hester being with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on the night of his defeat, but after her reaction, he knew it was true and she had obviously used dark magic to counter the effects of the veritaserum. Not to mention the fight in the main hall.

He summoned an auror "Send out a search party, she must be found and captured, it is of the greatest importance! We can use the trace to see where she apparated to"

The auror nodded and hurried out to gather a party.

Crouch sat back, satisfied.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone,**

**i'm going abroad tomorrow and will be without my computer for two weeks and then it's back to school so there aren't going to be any chapters for a while after this one.**

**Thanks**

**Hester Antonia Dracolas **

**Some dragonese:**

**Kitara: fool, idiot**

**Stilarka: Name, referring to ancestral names and a dragon's full name e.g. Hester Antonia Dracolas**

**Jugduren: Generic swear word, no direct translation**

**Hoinemoi: general exclamation of surprise and happiness e.g. blimey, wow**

**Xatera: filth, scum**

**Frezti: blood as in family, lineage etc.**

* * *

(I thought I'd put some of the words up at the top of the chapters in case the meaning isn't clear from the text)

"_KItara_" Johun snapped grumpily, "it means a lot more than that, they're probably already after us"

"After Hester" Taradan corrected, "They don't know about you. We ought to keep it that way"

"Well that's not going to last, she can hardly hide twelve dragons at once, now can she?" Saphira retorted.

"We should split up" Hester suggested but it was immediately slammed down by her cousins who were having nothing of the sort.

"We will stick by you, we'll just have to pretend to be wild dragons under your control." Crystal said her lip curling in disgust at the idea.

"That will only convince them further of their preconceived ideas that I'm dangerous and should be locked up. And I'm not going to be able to use any magic from now on, because they can trace it."

"What? Are you referring to their poxy "Trace"?"Crystal sneered. "That will only detect their magic not our own. Besides it will wear out in three years on the day you were supposed to turn seventeen."

"Crys, three years is a long time to evade them, they'll be able to track where I've apparated to…. oh _Jugduren_"

"What?"

"We have to leave now!" Hester ordered. "I'm so stupid they'll be after me already and they'll know where I am, come on!"

"Father's not back yet," Na'sun protested.

"We can't wait for him, send Maccaraius to tell him where we've gone" Elixir reasoned.

"Where are we going?" Fidum asked.

"Yeah, it's not like we have an actual plan." Ferum grumbled.

"Yes we do, it's called flying away, now"

"Fly, fly! Danger!" Maccaraius agreed.

Agreed to their plan of action they set off and as they soared towards the clouds they caught sight of Glaedr coming towards them. They flew as fast and as far as they could wary of the dangers at their backs.

Meanwhile the ministry released wanted posters for Hester.

* * *

It did not take long for the Aurors to find Hester for they had, without her realising, placed a tracking charm on her. The battle that ensued was almost as impressive as the first one, although Hester spent most of it throwing tree trunks at them and creating a wall of fire in order to allow the dragons to escape unnoticed, before following after them having tied up all the aurors that were still conscious with vines to prevent them from following her.

Once she discovered the tracking charm she got rid of it with "Finite Incatatum" and they found her again. And so it proceeded. They would find her she would fight them off til she could run away and a few weeks later they would find her again. They chased her up and down the country, through Albanian forests and French mountains, she would lead them as close to muggle settlements as she dared in order to halt their magic, or through, forest so dark and thick that only she could navigate through. She led them to the house to distract them and helped them capture death eaters by leading them to their hiding places. She wrote countless letters to the ministry, the daily prophet and anyone else she hoped would understand, pleading her innocence, most got no replies. The only ones she did get were generally trying to get her to meet people or give herself in, which she knew would be a very bad idea. Every newspaper she managed to get hold of was negative in its opinion of her, warning people to avoid her and offering rewards for information on her location. Even muggle newspapers, although they described her as a deranged armed mass murderer which she thought was a little strong.

They did eventually discover the dragons, after which point she gave up writing letters, the views of the wizarding world were concreted she was evil in their eyes. At least the dragons could fight with her after that which made battles swift. The ministry realised her powers didn't stem from her wand and discovered them one by one. They however, believed them to have been caused by the dark magic Voldermort had cursed her with and they also believed it to be her who cast the spell. In reality there was no proof to the contrary but every article she read about herself tugged something painfully inside her. It made her furious that after all she had been through they had cast her as the villain.

And then came the day of what would have been her seventeenth birthday and the termination of the trace. After that it got a lot worse.

* * *

They were resting in the forest on the side of a river, it was swollen and the water was about to burst its banks. The trees were bare, stark branches clawing at the grey sky, the ground hard and cold. Ominous clouds lurked above, threatening to release their heavy loads on the denizens of the land below.

Hester was crouching by a small feeble fire, that simple refused to grow bigger, trying to warm her hands. Taradan lay at her side purring deeply with his head resting on her knee. The rest of the dragons were further away, their bright scales flashing through gaps in the trees. Hester had chosen to settle by the river in order to fill her head with the roaring of the water as it crashed by.

A certain melancholy atmosphere pervaded her mind though she tried to beat it down. She was exhausted, frustrated and depressed by her day and its similarity to all her other days, and of course today was her birthday. She always felt unsettled on her birthday, unwanted memories pushed to the front of her thoughts, and it was a reminder at how little she had improved her predicament, if anything it had worsened.

Dusk was creeping towards her and sun was sinking behind the trees, a crimson rimmed ochre orb that melted into the green horizon. The dark clouds were backlit with soft pink and orange hues that for a few startling seconds seemed to banish the grey from the world. But it quickly returned sweeping back in to swallow the remnants of the day.

Hester sat back and wrapped her arms around her, the sudden wave of cold permeated through her tattered robes with ease, she had lost her cloak. Suddenly the world seemed to freeze. Her breath came out in clouds of white air, frost crept over the ground and up the black bark of the trees. The river was halted in its course as a thick sheet of ice covered its surface, the light disappeared and she was plunged into darkness, her fire flickered out.

It seemed like every last glimmer of hope and happiness had been extinguished and been replaced by an unbearable fear, a scream startled to bubble up her throaght but it died in her mouth as dark shapes swirled towards her. She couldn't move or think or summon a single ounce of magic to fight the things that were coming for her. She could feel herself slipping backwards into unconsciousness and, as the creatures began to suck every good memory from her, she gave up.

Then a roar and a burst of flame cut through her reverie and her eyes snapped open. Crystals stood over her, one clawed foot on either side, her brilliant whiteness shined through the darkness and the dark creatures were blown away. Picking her paralysed cousin up by the back of her robes with her teeth, she placed her on her back and, after Taradan had leaped on, took off followed by the rest of the clan.

* * *

The ministry had given up hope of ever capturing Hester with Aurors and had released Dementors to hunt for her. They would be more effective than they could have realised for Hester could perform no magic in their presence, neither her own nor with her wand. The dragons were little affected for their natural warmth combated the cold of the dementors and their memories were so well guarded that they could not feed of their good ones. Hester was yet to develop the boundaries that they had enabling them to block any attempt to invade their minds.

And so they fought on, rescuing Hester from the Dementor's clutches every time. Hester spent the majority of their fleeing days drifting in and out of nightmares caused by the bad memories dredged up by the Dementors. Their hideous chill lingered in her bones.

But the ministry soon learned they had to separate Hester from the dragons if they were ever to catch her.

* * *

It had been a few months since they had come into contact with the Dementors and Hester was becoming complacent. Used to her own company she favoured long solitary walks out into the depths of the forest, where she would dance and talk to herself, sing old songs her mother had taught her and folk songs about the Dragon Lords, recite poetry and whole passages of her favourite books that she could just recall. She would build things out of sticks, rocks and mud, strange harrowing sculptures with no seeming shape or meaning. She would climb trees, swinging from branch to branch or splash along streams. She would do handstands and cartwheels, flips and somersaults, complicated manoeuvres that involved a mixture of acrobatics and fight moves, a martial art of her own invention. It filled her with exhilaration to invent and perfect them.

Today she had wandered far and was delightfully unaware her location. She was attempting a rather difficult backwards double flip where she landed in a handstand pushed herself up to twist and kick in a circle before landing on her feet. Maccaraius watching her intently with one black eye.

He was the only one who accompanied her on these walks, partly because she could not stop him, but also because he never bothered her with incessant probing questions. Most of what he said little sense, a few words repeated constantly in a chattering rhythm that was both cute and reassuring.

"Hetta, Hetta" he called her name. "Hungry, hungry"

Distracted Hester tripped over her feet and fell to the ground, disturbed midway through her handstand.

"OK. Food, here" she said to him growing a hazelnut tree and picking a handful smashing it to edible pieces. She held out her wrist and he flapped over to perch on it, pecking at the food in her hand. His sharp claws dug into her skin but she didn't mind.

"Cr-r-uck!" he croaked. "Good, good, food, food!"

"You're welcome" Hester grinned. She carried him over to a rotting log which she stamped on. It broke up revealing several grubs and wood louse. He flew off her wrist and began to dance around in a curiously jerky way as he grabbed the tasty treats with his beak, croaking happily.

Hester returned to her move. She leaped and flipped, once, twice, a third time and down towards the ground. As it sped towards her time started to slow down and a sudden coldness swept across her. She could feel the frost forming on her.

She grabbed her wand and summoned her locket and ring together into a vine wrapped bundle.

She threw it to Maccaraius. He caught it deftly in his beak. He flew out just as the veil of darkness snapped down. Hester landed flat on her back. She lay still. Black, billowing forms with rags waving as if they were stuck in an unseen current, surrounded her.

Her mind was screaming at her to run but her body had already given up. She lay back and slipped into unconsciousness, the calmest sleep she would have for a while.

* * *

When Hester woke up she was lying on her back in a grey, gloomy room. No, not a room, a prison cell. She was in Azkaban without even a trial.

The cell was tiny, cramped; the walls loomed above her at jaunty angles forming a dank ceiling that was black with mould. Her robes were damp with the water that streamed down from every edifice and formed stagnant puddles on the uneven muddy floor. Rain, wind, sleet and snow howled in through the tiny window near the ceiling.

She only just had enough room to lie flat out on the floor if she lay diagonally across; she had not the strength to move anyway. There was a hard bench for her to lie on, but she tossed so violently in her nightmares that she would fall off.

Several times a day Dementors would glide past her door to extinguish any small attempt at coping she had. Food would appear once a day, coated with frost, hard to swallow, she had to hold the cup of water to her chest to melt the ice. Many days she did not bother.

Most days she didn't know where she was, sometimes she didn't know who she was. There was plenty of material to fill her dreams, again and again her mother's murder flooded her mind, the Boggart in the tree, her hogwarts letter being ripped up, the pain of the cruciatus curse, voldermort's curse, the ministry persecuting her, every meeting with the Dementors, echoes rebounding through her head.

There were only a few times she managed to keep the pain at bay. Whenever ministry members or journalists visited she would make a point of sitting up and acting as sane as she could. She would always ask them for paper. She would write things she had to remember, good memories, things to hope for. She would fill every square inch of paper with tiny spidery writing in Dragonese and then tuck it away inside her robes.

She would answer none of their invading questions, merely make her request and wave them away with a diffident manner, declaring her innocence and assuring them that she was confident of her imminent release.

It was thirteen months before she had even the hope of escape.

* * *

Hester was unaware of the date, but her pocket watch informed her that it was ten past six, whether this was in the morning or the afternoon, Hester was unsure for the light that struggled into her cell was about the same no matter the time. She had only recently woken up and she was reading through her notes.

To her surprise a security guard appeared to announce a visitor. She had not received a visitor in quite some time and had not expected one. However she was out of paper and welcomed the prospect of replenishing her supplies.

She dragged herself to her feet and waited. The man who walked into her cell was dressed in long, colourful robes that sparkled in the dismal surroundings. He had very long silver hair and a long silver beard and was wearing tinted half moon glasses over the top of which he peered with electric blue eyes. He was smiling benevolently and he resembled neither a journalist nor a ministry worker.

"Greetings" She bowed.

"Greetings, Albus Dumbledore" he proffered a hand and she deigned to take it, she generally refused to shake anyone's hand.

With a sudden jolt of realisation Hester realised the identity of her visitor, he was the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, all sorts of wild possibilities ran through her head and she dismissed all of them.

"I bring news from your family" He added. "They wish you to know that there will be a storm tonight."

"I see, thank you" Hester did not see, she had little idea of what he was talking about, though she presumed it was some sort of code.

"That is all, good bye" Dumbledore smiled, Hester nodded. As he left the cell he looked over his shoulder and added "And good luck"

"Thank you" Hester said to an empty room and then remembered that she had forgotten to ask him for paper.

But what had he meant? And why was he delivering a message for her family? They had been unable to communicate with her before, still on the run and all letters they sent went undelivered. She knew that Dumbledore was a staunch supporter of the ministry, although he did go about things his own way. Also her family required someone to insure she got the message who would have the authority to enter Azkaban on a whim. Why he did it however, was a mystery.

A few hours later the storm started. Torrential rain pounded Azkaban, wind howled through the long corridors and tormented those in their cells, lightening flashed, sheering rock of the edges of the prison, thunder boomed.

Hester stood on the bench and reached for the window sill, her fingers just clamped round it and she tugged herself up finding footholds in the dented wall. She stared out into the night. The sea around the barren rock of Azkaban rocked and tossed, huge waves threw themselves at the sides of the prison.

Then as a huge fork of lightening split the heavens, she noticed a dark grey shape, cut out of the sky. It grew as it came towards her. Her arms were straining to keep her up and she dropped to the ground.

Suddenly a voice boomed "Get away from the wall!"

Hester flung herself back and pressed against the far wall. There was a crash as a spiked tail smashed the wall away. A huge grey dragon forced his head and shoulders into the cell.

"Greetings little one" He grinned and bowed to her. Hester ran to him and wrapped her arms around his snout.

"Da'sun!" she cried with relief, her banished brother had come to rescue her, only he could fly undetected to the prison. His dark eyes reflected the lightening, she could see he was a dragon of the wild by his aura.

"Ah child, I do not own that name anymore" he breathed hot air on her and her robes dried instantly.

"Yet I shall use it" Hester said defiantly.

He laughed "You are just as father described you, quick now, we must leave with haste"

Hester jumped onto his back and he pushed off from the wall leaving deep gouges with his claws. They turned into the storm and Hester was soaked once more, but suddenly they were surrounded by Dementors.

But she would not be beaten this time. She would never be beaten by those creatures again. She dived from his back and found the spark she had been looking for.

With a burst of flame she exploded into her dragon form. Dark green scales glowing, long black claws like daggers, eyes gleaming, spiked tail swishing violently back and forth, slicing into the Dementors. To Da'sun, she was a smaller version of her mother, his heart was full of love for his cousin in her glory. Hester flew to him grabbed his clawed foot and disapparated with him.


End file.
